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THE Diocese of Ughelli, Anglican Communion, has advised the Federal Government against continued external borrowings in order not to further plunge the economy into another recession.
The Diocese in a communique issued after its first session of the eighth Synod, held at St. Luke’s Church, Otovwodo-Ughelli in Ughelli North Local Government Area of Delta State, from 27th April – 1st May 2019, called on the government to implement economic policies that would revamp the economy and make the improving economic indices to translate into improved living conditions for the masses.
In the communique signed by the Bishop of Diocese, Rt Revd Cyril Odutemu and the Clerical Secretary of the synod, Ven Daniel Edjere, said; “Government should vigorously pursue the diversification of the economy for increased productivity, industrialization, employment and income generation in agriculture and allied industries as well as other local income generating avenues.
“We commend the federal government on the various ongoing employment programmes in the NNPC, Nigerian Navy and the Nigeria Customs. It is strongly advised that equal opportunities should be given to all and those to be employed should be taken on the basis of merit and federal character principle.
“We are delighted with the progress made so far in the federal government’s national railway project, which has alleviated the plight of passengers in areas such as Abuja, Kaduna, Lagos, Abeokuta and some other routes nearing completion. Rail transport is one of the safest and cheapest means of transportation, and has many benefits for the masses. Synod urges the government to begin work on the railway line from Lagos to Port-Harcourt, which are the economic hubs of the South-West and South-South regions of the country.
“The Aladja-Adjaokuta rail line should also be connected to Abuja quickly and passenger trains should be introduced.
Also, we plead with the Federal and Delta State Governments to upgrade the Osubi Airstrip to a full Airport by extending the runway and putting in place all facilities for the landing and take-off of all sizes of aircraft. This will positively impact the economy and also save users the stress of going to distant places to catch flights.
“We commend the concerted efforts of the federal government in fighting insurgency in the country and the results so far achieved. However, synod observes with concern that the much acclaimed and celebrated successes seem to be short-lived as recent murderous activities of Fulani herdsmen, armed bandits, boko haram in Delta, Benue, Kaduna, Zamfara, Bornu and other several states of the country tend to suggest. Synod wishes to call on the government and the security agencies to overhaul the nation’s security architecture and adopt strategies that are more effective in tackling the problems of insurgency and general insecurity across the country.
“Government is advised to seriously consider the adoption of State and local police as part of the way forward in effectively combating crimes in the country. Synod also implores the Federal government to fulfil its promises with necessary actions by doing everything possible to ensure the release of Leah Sharibu and the remaining Chibok girls as well as all persons still in boko haram captivity.
“Synod wishes to remind the Buhari administration that it promised to fix the nation’s power problem within six months, but four years down the line, the power situation remains largely the same. Synod wishes to commend the active participation of Nigerians in the recently held general elections across the country, and we congratulate all those who were duly elected into various positions.
“However, synod decries the incidences of holding electoral staff hostage, double standard of the use of card readers and use of registers in different places, excessive involvement of the military and high level of thuggery which disrupted the electoral process and threatened the credibility of the outcome in several places – this is a major setback on the progress already achieved in our practice of democracy. Synod calls on the government and all stakeholders to uphold and entrench the true tenets of democracy in our country.
“We heartily congratulates Sir Senator Ifeanyi Arthur Okowa, the Governor of Delta State, on his successful re-election to continue as Governor of our dear State for another four years. It is the expectation of Deltans and all well-meaning people that the renewed mandate will spur and motivate the governor and his team to do more and take the State to greater heights.
“We commend the Delta State government for the giant strides in the development of infrastructure across the State, particularly in the areas of roads, schools, healthcare, sports facilities in rural and urban areas. We also commend the various empowerment programmes for our youths in the area of skill acquisition, entrepreneurship and agriculture that are helping to boost self-employment through the establishment of small scale businesses.
Synod is also gladdened by the recent efforts of the State government to employ more workers into the State civil service.
“We implore the government to increase the employment opportunities to enable more of our youths to be more productively engaged. Synod highly commends and appreciates the State Government for its intervention in the area of payment of salaries of Primary School and local government workers in the state.
“While encouraging government to sustain this, we wish to draw attention to the plight of retirees in the state who do not get their retirement benefits after several years of retirement, even after contributing savings to the pension scheme”.
