Nigerians are presently befuddled with the word restructuring. The Archbishop Metropolitan, and Primate of All Nigeria (Anglican Communion), Most Rev'd Nicholas Okoh has alerted the Federal Government of Nigeria.
In his opening address to the 12th General Synod of the church, holding in Port Harcourt Primate Okoh noted that " it is not everybody that understands the language of restructuring. We think that it will be necessary to adequately explain the full import of restructuring to the grassroots, so that Nigerians will know what to expect".
He asked: "Is the restructuring going to be along the demarcation of the current six geo-political zones or along the old regional divisions of the country? Also, what areas will devolve to the old regional divisions of the country? Also what areas will devolve to the regions and what areas will devolve to the regions and what areas will remain with the Federal Government?"
Answers to these questions were necessary to enable the common people "know the difference between where we are now and where we are going, should restructuring be the way forward".
On education the Primate noted with satisfaction that the ambiguities that crept into Christian Religious Knowledge and Islamic Tradition and merged them had been removed and the two were now separated. He gave kudos to the National Assembly, CAN and the Vice President.
Education , he said, “is too important to be toyed with. We appeal to those who design our curriculum to be careful with anything that can compromise the integrity of our education in anyway".
The Primate therefore warned that “religion is a sensitive aspect of our lives and any attempt to toy with the faith of the people could have a negative outcome".
Okoh said Nigerians were delighted at the news that the country "is now out of recession". However, referring to Mr President’s statement that "the state of the economy is still very fragile" with the Primate noting that the common people would not appreciate the news until they started seeing the positive impact on their living conditions .
As for the insecurity in the North East, the Primate noted with regret that the situation had refused to abate and continued to be a flash point and embarrassment to the government. He said the enemy had changed tactics. “The enemy is no more an operational force occupying a territory but it has now become like guerrilla warfare" saying "there is need for the government and military to re strategize."
Okoh called for a control measure on the galloping population growth in Nigeria to check the soaring of unemployment saying the economic growth rate is slow yet the population growth rate is so high.
The opening ceremony was graced by by the Governor of Rivers State, Mr Nyesom Wike and his deputy Mrs Ipalibo Banigo.
