Declare emergency on economy, Anglican clerics urge Buhari

President asked to emulate founding fathers

Citing the biting hardship in the land, Anglican bishops have called on President Muhammadu Buhari to declare emergency on the economy to avert developments that might divide the country.

Speaking yesterday at Cathedral Church of St. Mary, Ngwo in Enugu North Council, the clerics, drawn from over 10 dioceses, urged government to immediately address the prevailing economic recession.

In a statement by by the provincial chairman and Archbishop of Enugu, Rt. Rev. Emmanuel Chukwuma as well as secretary, Venerable Augustine Orah, the church lamented the national minimum wage, which could no longer afford a bag of rice.

“This is sad and the least of provocations that could be meted to the people. If the least paid worker earning N18,000 minimum wage cannot afford a bag of rice, which now sells at N22,000 with his monthly earning, it means that something urgent must be done about the economy. Many families are groaning under this harsh economic reality,” they said.

The clerics condemned the “inaction of the Federal Government to decisively end the incessant attacks, killings of innocent citizens and wanton destruction of farmlands and residential houses by herdsmen.”

They, therefore, called on government to put in place measures that could curb the ugly trend.On infrastructure development, they regretted the sorry state of federal highways in South East, especially the Enugu/Onitsha, Enugu/Port Harcourt, Ninth Mile/Makurdi, Obollo-Afor/Eha-Amafu/Nkalagu expressways which are becoming deathtraps to commuters.

They thus appealed to government to unbundle the Ministry of Power, Works and Housing into three separate entities.Meanwhile, a former governor of Anambra State, Dr. Chukwuemeka Ezefie, says the deplorable state of roads in the region calls for sober reflection.He stated this in Enugu while announcing plans for the region being put together by the Southeast Leadership and Development Initiative (SELDI).

Meanwhile, Buhari has been enjoined to emulate the political philosophy of Nigeria’s founding fathers in order to have a practical solution to the socio-economic challenges threatening the nation’s survival.

The Supreme Head of Cherubim and Seraphim Unification of Nigeria, Prophet Solomon Adegboyega Alao, who gave the charge in Ado Ekiti, said until political leaders were ready to render selfless service to the country, the quest for economic recovery would remain a mirage.