Bishop, Tompolo for dialogue

Catholic Bishop of Umuahia, Dr. Lucius Ugorji and ex militant leader, General Ekpemupolo (Tompolo) has called on both the Federal Government and Labour to engage in more constructive dialogue to end the face-off, even as they admitted that the policy has brought a lot of hardship on Nigerians.

Tompolo, Friday, called on the NLC, TUC, and the civil society to call off their nationwide strike over the removal of fuel subsidy by the Federal Government, saying it was not in the best interest of the nation.
In a press statement issued in Warri, he said, “Fuel subsidy is a government policy that was put in place to reduce the pump price of imported petrol from the landing cost (which is very high) to an affordable price by the citizens.”

Bishop Ugorji also advised that the face-off should be in a way that is “respectful of truth, justice, fairness and in the interest of all parties,and devoid of the fear of losing present privileges”, for “fullfilling the needs and promotion of the overall well-being of the poor.

While commending Nigerians for expressing their view on a policy that thye disagrree with, the cleric noted that in order to regain the trust, and support of the Nigerian populace, the “government has to heed these outcries and be more committed in fulfilling its promises, infighting corruption, in shunning the culture of impunity and drastically reducingwaste and cost of governance”.

On the issue of Boko Haram, Bishop Ugorji described it as a serious threat to the peace and security of the nation, saying that ‘it has become a platform secretly employed by aggreived individuals and groups to express their anger and discontentment under the false pretence of religious bigotryand ethnic intolerance”.

“Yesterday, this ‘monster’ wore the cloak of Niger-Delta militancy and today it is putting on the garb of Boko Haram sect. The attire it will put on tomorrow ia any body’s guess. The state of affirs has led to total mistrust of government and and a high sense of cynicism among the populace on government’s ability to secure the lives of its citizes”, the Bishop lamented. (Vanguard)