- Cardinal Okogie blames the masses who elect those with bad character
By Emma Ogbuehi
The Edo State Governor, Godwin Obaseki, and the Emeritus Archbishop of the Catholic Archdiocese of Lagos, Cardinal Olubunmi Okogie, on Tuesday blamed poor leadership for Nigeria’s woes.
Both leaders spoke when Cardinal Okogie, who was in Benin for the 90th birthday celebration of Archbishop Patrick Ekpu, the Emeritus Archbishop of Benin, paid the governor a courtesy call.
Receiving the clergy at the Government House in Benin City, the governor celebrated Cardinal Okogie, describing him as an icon and a father.
READ ALSO: Cardinal Okogie to Buhari: Security more important than getting re-elected in 2019
The governor said, “The Cardinal came to pay me a courtesy visit; you know he is our father. He is here in Benin to celebrate another icon, Archbishop Patrick Ekpu, the Emeritus Archbishop of Benin who will be 90 years tomorrow (Wednesday).
“You know their relationship, so he is here to celebrate the archbishop who is celebrating his 90th birthday and 50 years as a Bishop tomorrow. The Catholic Bishops are here to celebrate with this great and accomplished Edo son.”
Cardinal Okogie, on his part, blamed the numerous challenges facing the country on poor choices of leadership by the electorate who are influenced by financial gains.
“The easiest way to tackle our challenges is for our elders to start showing the youths the right way,” he said.
“Those in government are not at fault, let’s face the fact because we elected those with bad characters; we voted those who are not trained and people we know that are bad. We vote for them because of the three or four pence they will give us,” Okogie added.
Cardinal Okogie has always tasked various leaders on good governance.
Before the 2019 elections, he asked President Muhammadu Buhari to focus more on the security challenges facing the country than preparing for reelection.
According to him, security was more important than the election.
Cardinal Okogie also charged Nigerians to demand from the Buhari government the whereabouts of those responsible for the killing of Nigerians in different parts of the country, insisting: “What is the Federal Government and its security agencies waiting for?”
In a memo titled “WHO AND WHERE ARE THE CRIMINALS? What a Nation!”, Cardinal Okogie who has written several letters to question certain unpleasant happenings in the polity while politicians are busy scheming for re-election, said the matter of security “must be rightly addressed without sweeping any item under the carpet. It is by far more important than getting elected or re-elected in 2019.”