Nigeria Needs President With Good Understanding Of Economy , Obasanjo Insists
Former president, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo on Tuesday urged Nigerian electorate to critically asses the various candidates jostling for presidential position, saying what the country needs now in its history is a president that has good understanding of economy.
This was as the Catholic Bishop of Sokoto Diocese, Dr. Matthew Hassan Kukah, expressed worry that the killings in the country is gradually turning Nigeria into a massive graveyard which is consuming the hopes of entire generation.
The duo spoke at the annual lecture, organized by Foursquare Gospel Church of Nigeria in Lagos.
Obasanjo said: “There is no doubt at all that if we have to get it right, economy, faith and politics must go together.
“One of my international friends, the late Helmut Schmidt, who was a former Chancellor of Germany, died at the age of 96 about three years ago, I was at the burial and he said if we in Africa have to make it, all our political leaders must have good grounding in economy.
“As a fact from Bishop Kukah, even Jesus Christ understood the economy and if you have a leader who does not understand economics, then you cannot have a leader that will satisfy the need of the people, the physical and the material needs of the people.”
“Faith must go with the management of politics and economy. They are cousins, and when they are not working together, you can never get it right. I believe that God who created Nigeria wants us to get it right. He has given us all that we need to make progress in this country.”
In his lecture, titled: ‘The Trying Triangle of Politics, Economy and Faith: Through the eyes of the needle’, Bishop Kukah urged religious leaders across the country to raise the bar for public protest and denunciate the killings to avoid God’s judgment.
Kukah said, “Today in Nigeria, the indignities that have been afflicted and inflicted on our people are unacceptable.
“They cry to high heavens for resolution. It is not enough for us to merely pray that things change for our people whose lives are being wasted. It is necessary that we, religious leaders, create options by raising the bar of public protest and denunciate against these unacceptable conditions.
“Our dear nation has become one massive graveyard consuming the hopes of an entire generation. It will be an unforgivable sin if we religious leaders fail in our duty of providing a moral compass for leading our people to freedom and justice.
“God will judge us harshly if we succumb to the tempting froth from the cup of politics. I agree with Saint Paul that our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed.
“Rather than think more about how Christians can participate in politics, we should focus on how Christians can use the gospel values to influence not only the political space but their individual, family, communities and the larger society.
“Today, the true values of Christianities have been eroded by the opportunities quest for power, glory, and self- indulgence. In my view, there can be no Christian way of playing, in the same way; there is no Christian way of playing football.
“From what we have seen so far, religion can be used to mobilise for power and it is being used daily especially in a poverty-stricken environment like ours.
“However, when religion has been used, how do the co-religionists benefit? Whether we vote for persons as Muslims, Christians, or on the basis of ethnicity, have our lives really changed?”
