…SAYS IT HAS BECOME A NATIONAL EMBARRASSMENT
The Bishop on the Niger, Rt Rev Owen Nwokolo, has criticized the political class and parties for lacking the proper manifestos to guide the electorates.
Nwokolo attributed the leadership crisis and the incessant incidents of carpet crossing among politicians to lack of manifestos.
Nwokolo spoke at the Episcopal House, Onitsha, Anambra state when the executive members of the Nigerian Union of Journalists, Anambra State, paid him a courtesy visit on Thursday.
He called on the political class to reverse the trend which he described as an indictment to the 21st century brand of the Nigerian politics.
The Clergyman lamented that the manifestos of the political parties of the past were better and richer than the the current ones.
“One thing about our country is that we don’t offer ourselves for proper leadership, a leadership that has something to offer. “Leaders of today do not have manifestoes like those of the First and Second Republics who used to have manifestos wherein they articulated what they had to offer the populace.
“After the presentations of such blueprints, people would begin to analyse the documents. On the ground of what the parties say, people would be happy to make a choice”, he said. He lamented that politicians have jettisoned the place of the manifesto in the democratic process as they embark on frequent movements from one party to the other thereby making Nigeria a laughing stock.
He challenged the NUJ and the media to dwell of the issue which according to him has become an embarrassment to the entire country.
Earlier, the Chairman of the union, Dr. Odogwu, had commended the bishop for positively altering the spiritual and physical landscape of the diocese within a short period of his Episcopacy.
