Catholic Archbishop of Abuja, Most Reverend Ignatius Kaigama has said that only the poor and vulnerable people in the society should be the beneficiaries of the federal government’s N5 billion palliatives to each state to cushion the effects of fuel subsidy removal.
The Catholic bishop also said the N25,000 monthly grant to 15 million struggling families should truly get to the hands of the vulnerable people who need it.
Kaigama who spoke at the 4th Abuja Archdiocesan General Assembly (AAGA), with the theme “Marriage and Family in Contemporary Society”, said more than allocating grants and palliatives, families need to be empowered and supported by the government to embark on sustainable entrepreneurial activities.
He also urged families to ensure that its members are patriotic and law-abiding. He said it is disturbing that perpetrators of crimes in the society are young people.
“We hope that the N5 billion palliative allocated by our President to each state and the FCT to cushion the effects of the fuel subsidy removal, and the N25,000 monthly grant, allocated to 15 million struggling Nigerian families from October -December 2023, will truly get into the hands of these poor and vulnerable people.
“We hope that the fundamental causes of family breakdown, divorce, cases of domestic violence, lack of care for the sick and the elderly, etc., will be investigated and remedied by our government.
“On their part, families must see to it that its members are patriotic and law-abiding. It is disturbing to observe that the perpetrators of violence, cybercrime, kidnapping, etc., are sometimes young people indoctrinated by criminals and enemies of the state. One is left to wonder if these young people belong to families,” the Catholic Bishop said.
The bishop said the family is the first and vital cell of society, and a society is only as healthy, as stable, as energetic, and as imbued with moral values as its families.
Kaigama further noted that a nation can be said to be crumbling if its families are falling apart and riddled with moral decay, and the existence of good families is essential for the existence of society.
He said contemporary society is largely driven by modern ideologies like relativism, hedonism, and minimalism, and the foregoing has brought with it too many maladies that have threatened the very core and existence of some Institutions.
