Nigerians Must End ‘Bread and Butter Mentality’ To Enjoy Benefits Of Democracy- Matthew Kukah
Nigerians may not enjoy the benefits of democracy unless they put an end to ‘bread and butter’ mentality, the Catholic Bishop of Sokoto Diocese, Matthew Kukah, has said.
He added that many people in the country do not appreciate representative democracy due to absence of fundamentals that are supposed to be put in place.
Team@orientactualmags.com learned that Kukah said this while delivering his keynote speech during the third annual national public lecture of the First News Newspaper in Yenagoa, Bayelsa state.
The public lecture had as its theme ‘The Nigerian Question: Survival of the Federation in The Throes of Increasing Economic Challenges’.
‘The good thing about Nigeria is that everybody knows what the problems are, and the people who are responsible for the problems are not also safe, they too do not know peace.
Nigerians talk about other countries. I feel sorry for many Nigerians who, because of many troubles, hardly travel out of their immediate environment not to talk about traveling to other parts of Africa or other parts of the world.
Though, every country has its problems, the challenge before us in Nigeria is that, what do we want, obviously, can we democratize and develop our nation? It is a very difficult question to answer because what we call the civilized world today is the last 200 years of exploitation of Africa that helped to build these nations.
So , we are imagining it ourselves, why are we not like other people? We are not like others because every nation has to find its navigational truth for development. It is not as if we cannot use democracy to develop Nigeria, but certain fundamental things must be on the ground before people can appreciate democracy.
Unless Nigeria settles the issue of ‘bread and butter mentality’, democracy can actually look like a lottery’ he said.
Also speaking, Governor Douye Diri, urged Nigerians to embrace their heritage and channel their concerns into a resolute commitment to developing the nation.
Diri, who was represented by the Secretary to the state government, Gideon Ekeuwei, also noted that the young people have the key to unlocking the potential of the country for its growth and development.
Chris Imafidon, , who also spoke on ‘Digital Revolutions: How AI, Blockchain, Digital Currency Will Impact Your Business’ , said Nigeria can have a brighter future where technology could empower individuals beyond imagination.
Imafidon has urged everyone to leverage technology to elevate their financial status.
The publisher of the First News, Daniel Iworiso-Markson, explained that the essence of the public lecture was to create a platform where Nigeria’s social and economic challenges would be discussed and solutions proffered-Team@orientactualmags.com
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