Kaduna Anglican Bishop flays FG over economic policies, insecurity

• Urges Reversal Of Hike In Petrol Price, Electricity Tariff

The Bishop of Kaduna of the Church of Nigeria, Anglican Communion, Rt. Rev. Timothy Yahaya, has blamed the Federal Government for the pervading insecurity and poor economic policy that have contributed to the suffering of Nigerians.

The clergyman, in a message delivered at the Third Session of the 21st Synod in Kaduna, on Friday, criticised President Muhammadu Buhari over rising insecurity in the country and recent hike of pump price of petrol and electricity tariff, urging the government to prevent the country from becoming a failed state.

Yahaya, who also spoke on the economic consequences of COVID-19 pandemic in the country, said the lockdown measures aimed at curbing the pandemic have affected all aspects of daily living, pointing out that “some workers have lost their means of livelihood, prices of food and services have increased, companies that are weak are closing, big companies have scaled down, schools have closed, transport system disrupted…and the fear of the virus has crippled the main stay of our economy, which is oil, and the price of crude oil has slump in the international market.”

He regretted that in the midst of the pandemic and economic crisis, the government decided to increase the price of petrol and electricity tariff, thereby, worsening the plight of Nigerians, adding: “Synod feels that the Nigerian people are living in difficult times.

“The effects of COVID-19 on the economy is biting hard, inflation and relationship of the naira to the dollar has made things more difficult for the common man, the rate of poverty in Nigeria can only be imagine. Unemployment is at its record high.

“Looking critically at the increase in Value Added Tax (VAT) and now on electricity and fuel cost, things are going from bad to worse for the masses.

“Synod is calling on government to reconsider its decision on increase of VAT, electricity and petrol price in Nigeria.” Yahaya argued that insecurity in Nigeria has reached an alarming dimension that it not only needs an emergency stakeholders approach, but also a total overhaul of our security architecture, saying: “Today, it is either Boko Haram, gunmen, bandits, kidnappers, yahoo boys or herdsmen, and life has become very cheap in our country.

“In Nigeria, citizens die daily and life moves on as if it is normal. Has life in Nigeria lost its value? Is it no longer sacred? With the reckless and continuous killings in Zamfara, Katsina, Northeast region and Kaduna, has this government forgotten its primary duty to protect the lives of citizens? “The Synod calls on government, whose primary responsibility it is to safeguard life and property, to do more.”