RETIRED Archbishop of the Benin Catholic Archdiocese, Edo State, Archbishop Patrick Ekpu, weekend, said that members of the Boko Haram sect were not being sincere to Nigerians, noting that their excuse of killing their fellow Nigerians because they were against Western education was nonsensical.
He also urged the Federal Government to be sincere in its dialogue with members of Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASUU, current on strike, warning that the strike was killing the country’s education sector.
Archbishop Ekpu, who addressed newsmen in Benin City, noted that the bloodshed being perpetrated by the Boko Haram sect in some parts of the North was wicked and inexcusable and urged them to change their evil ways.
“Even if you remove Christianity, does the African culture promote the killing of your neighbor just because you disagree? What are they using to kill these Christians? Is it their manufactured ammunition or those manufactured by the very Europeans they claim they don’t want their culture? The dress they wear, where are they from? The food they eat, what are they served on, are they not things gotten from western civilization? They are not sincere and they have no love for fellow Nigerians. And their actions being politically motivated cannot be justified for any reason.
On the ASUU strike, he said: “I humbly request them to sit down and talk over their differences and when decisions are reached, they should be followed and carried. Government should endeavor to carry out agreements they reached with ASUU. Government should have the political will to put the right persons in the right positions. If somebody is found wanting in any of these sectors, send the person packing and put the right person there.”
Reacting to the general insecurity in the country, Archbishop Ekpu, who will be 82 years old in October, noted, that “the security situation in the country could have been better managed but as it is asked, who is government? You and I are the people who elected those representing us and managing the government, therefore, to some extent, we the populace are also liable for the defects we see in government because when elections comes, somebody comes and gives you money and you take and go to vote for him.
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