Protests: Nothing wrong in wanting to end bad governance – Onaiyekan

His Eminence John Cardinal Onaiyekan, the Emeritus Archbishop of the Catholic Archdiocese of Abuja, has supported the youth in their quest to end bad governance in Nigeria.

The cardinal, while speaking at an event organised by the Christian Youth for Peace and Development Initiative in Abuja on Tuesday, reflected on the 10-day protests across Nigeria tagged #EndBadGovernance, saying the youth like many other Nigerians want to see Nigeria managed better than what is happening now.

“The 10 days of #EndBadGovernance protests saw the young people coming out in large numbers. From my own opinion, they were not coming out to insult anybody.

“They didn’t say that they were ending Tinubu’s government. They simply said they want to end bad governance. Is there anything wrong with that? We all must be seen to be trying to end bad governance.

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“But what has come up is that we all seem to agree that we can do better than what we are doing as far as governance and management of Nigeria is concerned.

“I can understand the impatience of the young people. And when Mr President tells young people to be patient, I’m not sure whether he was very patient when he was 30 years old. He wasn’t patient. The young people cannot be patient, but they should not be patient. Because if they are patient, they will just sit down and do nothing,” he said.

Onaiyekan, however, said the need for peace in Nigeria is obvious, stressing that “it is a task that we need a whole lot of people to rally around for. I will be happy to be invited to an event of the Muslim Youth for Peace.”

“And the history of Nigeria, starting from the colonial era, it was young people who took on the fight. Nowadays, when we look at the pictures of Awo and Zik and Sardauna of Sokoto, we think they were old men. They were not,” he added.

Regarding the recent launch of CNG buses, Cardinal Onaiyekan remained skeptical. He questioned whether such measures effectively address the root causes of the protests and expressed uncertainty about the feasibility and impact of the CNG technology.

Ambassador Simon Dolly-Kif, the Director General of the Christian Youth for Peace and Development Initiative on his part urged the youth to give peace a change, stressing that there won’t be development in an atmosphere of rancour.

He lamented the economic setbacks and business disruptions the country and its citizens experienced during the 10-day protests, emphasising the need for constructive dialogue.