By Laolu Elijah

IBADAN— PRESIDENT of the Archdiocese of Ibadan Catholic Men Organization, AICMO, Sir Felix Adoroh, yesterday, urged Federal and State governments to show some empathy towards the suffering masses and cancel policies that are not productive

He said this when speaking with newsmen ahead of the celebrations of Father’s Day which was held at Loyola College, Ibadan at the weekend.

He was flanked by Reverend Joseph Idowu, Parish Priest of St. Ignatius of Loyola Catholic Church and Mr Augustine Okeleke, the Chairman of the Organising Committee for Father’s Day, he continued,

Adoroh, who admitted that members of the church are feeling the pinch of the crunching economy, said it’s only empathetic leaders who can initiate policies that will bring succour to the masses.

He said: “People are not interested in who is the President or governor; people measure by the cost of a bag of rice, beans. So, if the government is not helping us, what are we doing to help ourselves?

“Nigeria is bad but it’s human beings that are ruling this country. As things are now, we don’t have to wait for the government to do everything for us. In the past, people used to have gardens where vegetables were planted, things like that don’t exist anymore. Let’s look inward. The importance of wining and dining as part of this programme is to take care of the welfare of the people.

“To the government in power, some might be crying we are in pain, while some will be saying you are doing it well.

“As men, we carry the burden and if we don’t move close to God, depression may set in. We are all feeling the pain. We have organised programmes to take care of the welfare of men. There’s nobody that’s not feeling the pinch. 

“One of our greatest challenges as a group has been the refusal of most men to identify with this umbrella body. I want to charge those in that category to see it as an obligation to be part of this group as there are so many benefits herein for the men.”