The Edo State Deputy Governor, Philip Shaibu, on Saturday urged politicians to speak the truth to people in power in order to make the country better.
Shaibu, who made the call at the maiden edition of the Catholic Politicians and Captains of Industry Forum held at the St. Paul’s Catholic Church Hall in Benin City, said the refusal of politicians to speak truth to power was behind the current insecurity in the country.
He said: “I can tell you that if whatever we do reflects our doctrines, we won’t have this insurgency that we are experiencing right now. If we tell ourselves the truth, we will not have all these crises that are self-inflicted; we are the cause.
“But I am happy that we now have a forum that we can use in telling ourselves the truth. For us, we will continue to speak the truth; there are good people in government, just that majority of them are bad and the system is really bad too. Until we fix the system and stop talking, I can tell you that Nigeria will remain where it is.
“We will continue to speak truth to power; we are also appealing to some of our people, if you want to decamp from your political parties, no problem, but speak truth to power. When things are bad, say it’s bad and find a way to provide a solution. Let us collectively continue to speak truth to power.
“If you are in a particular political party and things are not working well, speak to your head let him know that things are bad. Let’s be bold to speak the truth; if he refuses to take it, it doesn’t matter but speak the truth.”
