The cathedral administrator of Bauchi Diocese, Reverend Father Raphael Agbata has pleaded with the federal government to cut down excess expenditures to make more funds available to reduce the current economic hardship Nigerians are going through.
Reverend Agbata linked the hardship in the country to the implementation of government policies which are inflicting hardship on the people.
In an exclusive interview with LEADERSHIP, Reverend Agbata said, “I am forty and above and I have not seen the kind of hardship that we are experiencing now. All this is because of bad government policies.”
He said, “We have never got it wrong like this time in our country, Nigeria,” when families go to bed with empty bellies and precious souls lost to stampedes at food distribution events.
He added, “A lot of things have gone wrong in the country because we have abandoned the way of God; because we have left the cherished path of God and we have embraced our selfish interests. Because we have embraced our selfish interests, everybody, especially our leaders now, they are all scavenging for their stomachs at the detriment of the masses.
“Looking at what happened in Ibadan, Anambra and Abuja, the stampede, yes I know that a lot of times they have shared food, but all of this is because hunger is much. That is why people have become scavengers scavenging for food.”
Reverend Agbata said at the moment, Nigeria has plunged into a state of survival of the fittest, where only the strong have it, adding that things have gotten worse.