PRESS RELEASE

State of the Nation

We want to seize the opportunity of this major event today to lend our voice to the issues relating to the development of our dear country Nigeria.

It is a critical role of the Church of Jesus Christ within any geographical border to positively impact her system of governance, growth and development, and to clearly contribute towards the delivery of other social outputs that are crucial to nation building.

We thank God for the just concluded election and that Nigeria is on the march again with the new administration to drive the country for better prosperity in the next four years.

But we cannot be oblivious to the facts on the ground which we would like the new leadership to be guided with as it articulates its strategies for the new administration.

Today, it is glaringly observable that, in our beloved nation Nigeria, God’s commandments regarding justice, integrity, humility, love, fairness and equity are being neglected and relegated to the background. This leaves so much room for concern because, as history teaches us, whenever the right religious/moral foundations of a nation are eroded, the glory of such a nation equally follows that pattern.

Of course, vices don’t come without social consequences. In some quarters today, patriotism and due respect for national identities have degenerated into agitations and disillusionment, simply because of real or perceived political injustices, impunity, greed and vain pursuits with which some of our political leaders are glaringly guilty of and we would like the new administration to correct all these anomalies.

2023 Election and Inauguration 

We bless God for the last general election. It was such a crucial one in the history of our dear nation. The issues surrounding it are many and compelling.

We struggled with a Moslem-Moslem ticket which we considered as a slap on the face of the highly and eminently qualified Christians in the nation. We perceived it as a sly way of edging out Christ-based views in governance. It was also apparently seen as a further entrenchment of Islam as a prominent and dominant religion in the nation.

These concerns are founded on past and present blatant infractions on the basic rights of Christians all over the Nation.

Recently, a former governor of Kaduna State, El-Rufai, was carelessly playing to the gallery on this subject when he gleefully referred to what he reportedly termed the “Islamic domination” as a result of the inauguration of the Moslem-Moslem ticket.

I feel like reminding him that anyone that mocks Christ must await his/her spiritual Waterloo, and anyone that ridicules His Body — the Church — must be ready for a just desert sooner than later.

It is worthy of note that the youths also spoke loudly through their votes at a point in the electoral process. Definitely the signs of discontent were quite loud for the wise to note and annotate. 

The inauguration ceremony itself was also held on a background of strong contentions from some sections who felt a great sense of dissatisfaction with the process that set the stage for it.

Albeit, our own take at this stage is that it is time for all parties to bury the hatchet and work together. Let us make this administration work for the collective interest of all Nigerians.

Unity In The Polity

We will all agree that Nigeria’s polity was greatly polarized during the last election. In the history of the nation, no election had a more monstrous effect on the unity of the nation than the last one.

Issues of tribe, religion and other sentiments escalated beyond reason. Tension was heightened and divisions worsened on all sides.

It is quite obvious that key players in the political realm orchestrated these splits, skillfully manipulating and arm-twisting simple minded people in an orchestra of lies and deception.

While these were done to garner some undue advantages, they actually has injured the soul of the nation more. It is our plea that this new administration do the needful in mending fences with all the aggrieved sections of the nation. This is to ensure that true peace prevails in the nation.

Moreover, let’s be reminded that it is within the right of anyone to differ from your political standpoints during the electioneering process. Now that the election period is over, however, we must choose to close ranks as good, responsible and matured Nigerians.

Let’s resist the temptation of playing the games of vendetta in anyway imaginable, keeping in mind that whatever worked for you now could have worked against you if not for the grace of God.

Inclusivity

The last administration created a woeful scene, bedeviled by lopsided appointments and implementation of critical policies in favour of a particular ethnic group.

People from other parts of the nation became mere spectators in a country belonging to every one of us. This injustice was perpetrated with utter disdain for the injured feelings of others.

If Nigeria, in spite of its diversities, is truly a nation where everyone is equal, let this new administration show a clear departure from the past by embracing inclusiveness, irrespective of ethnicity, religion, region or gender.

Rule of Law

Rule of law is a basic principle and a critical bedrock of democracy. In an egalitarian society all should be governed by the same ethics and bound by the same laws. 

No one is above the law, or should be above the law, and governmental decisions must be made by applying across board only known legal and moral principles. 

A situation whereby some are regarded as sacred cows must be abolished. Let the law be applied equally and fairly as it’s done in every sane society.

Subsidy Removal
Since the new administration came in barely two weeks ago, the nation has been engulfed with the issue of fuel subsidy removal and the aftermath effects. 

Fortunately, almost everyone has a clear understanding that the subsidy is not sustainable as only a few rich individuals, as well as some countries bordering Nigeria, have been benefiting from it at our corporate expense.

For instance, I just read that some groups of people were protesting the subsidy removal in faraway Cameroon. Shocking, isn’t it?

It is clearly unsustainable for us as a nation to be spending trillions of Naira in the payment of subsidies.

The fact on the ground also shows that the financial situation of this country is in dire straits and the amount of money we are using to service debt is almost becoming higher than our revenue.

In addition, our exchange rate is not stable and these are determinants of import-driven products.

Meanwhile, we all know that with inflation in the system, the removal of subsidy would further worsen the situation and impose more difficulties on the citizenry.

Whereas we commend government for talking about putting in place some palliative measures. Nevertheless, we hold the view that as the new government is just coming in, it should have had a dialogue with the stakeholders before making such a pronouncement which has since thrown the nation into a frenzy.

There's no doubt that until we produce locally what we consume, every other talk is merely political. And, until we refine petroleum products locally, we cannot make a headway.

Hence, we want to emphasize the need for the Federal Government to bring back the Nation's refineries and create an enabling environment for investment in the refining business sector to thrive.

We also support those advocating for the adoption of the NLNG model in the running of the nation’s refineries when fully revamped and the creation of an enabling environment for the establishment and operation of modular and private refineries. 

We use this medium to commend and to congratulate all the major stakeholders involved in the newly commissioned Dangote Refinery.

We believe that this new refinery will bring a significant impact on the fuel supply dynamics, including easing pressure on the economy, especially when combined with the ongoing revamping of the other refineries in the country.

However, we wish to urge them to be wary of the temptation of monopoly and be mindful of the domino impacts of such business concepts on the generality of Nigerians, especially the poor.
A Review of the National Debt Crisis

Evidently, our beloved nation is in a debt crisis. According to reliable sources, by May 2023, Nigeria’s total public debt stock had increased to N46.25 trillion or $103.11 billion.  

While many are looking for debt relief to keep the repayment at a minimum level to enable us sort out some of our investment needs and compelling current obligations such as expenditures on infrastructure, education and health, it does not provide a sustainable or permanent solution because the amount left unpaid will keep piling up as arrears and gets added to the principal amount making the debt larger.

The bottom line is that we cannot afford to service all of our debt unless we are really prepared to commit to very little investment in our physical and human resources for the next two decades.

We cannot also afford to allow the debt to pile up. So, this means that this administration must search for a permanent workable solution to our debt problem. The search for this solution is therefore a key priority and a vital financial and economic issue for the country, not only for the present generation but also for our yet unborn generations.

While we do not outrightly condemn borrowing, we support the school of thought that borrowed funds should not be used for consumption on recurrent expenditure, but rather channeled into productive ventures and infrastructural development. Nevertheless, we expect to see a different approach to borrowing from the current administration.
The Economy

The current state of our economy is of great concern to us as we had hoped to see steady growth in our GDP, increased access to employment for our teeming population and diversification of the economy, but unfortunately, we are yet to achieve that. 

Poor implementation of both fiscal and monetary policies and policy inconsistencies have continued to militate against our projected growth and development as a Nation.

The nation’s economy is confronted with many serious challenges like structural imbalance, corruption, weak human capital development, inequality, security challenges and excessive dependence on oil for revenue.

High youth unemployment, which was recently highlighted by the International Labour Organization (ILO), underemployment and poor infrastructural facilities are some of the key challenges this new government should tackle with sound and coordinated strategy in consultation with relevant stakeholders.

In our previous address, we have extensively discussed diversification of the economy and this is the time for its implementation as a matter of urgency.

Truth is that revenue from the Oil and Gas sector can no longer sustain us as a Nation, and this is the most auspicious time to shift our attention to the Agricultural sector and other areas like Solid Minerals, Tourism, and Technology.
Insecurity
2023 began with sad tales of the burning of a Catholic Priest in Niger state, kidnap of a DPO in Jos, attack on church worshipers in Katsina community and the abduction of 23 train passengers in Edo State.

These, coupled with news of near daily occurrences of kidnappings along the nation’s highways especially the Lagos- Ibadan Expressway, do not speak well of our dear nation, Nigeria.

Citizens of Southern Kaduna and Benue are gradually becoming extinct due to unending attacks, killings and the resulting displacement.

This growing insecurity in the land is heart-rending and therefore a nightmare to citizens, investors and visitors.

The numerous cases of alleged herdsmen attacks even on farms, organized kidnappings, perennial killings and other associated stories on avoidable waste of human lives and property across Nigeria are unacceptable and condemnable.

Nigerians deserve to be adequately protected by the Government against these monstrous marauders.

The fact that it has become sustained not only suggests an orchestration and a strong organization by those sponsoring the upsurge to spill more innocent Nigerians' blood, but also a clear manifestation of leadership challenge at all levels in the country because security of lives and property remains the essence of any Government.

We therefore expect that the new administration should immediately review the current security strategy, rejig the entire security architecture, provide more funding and shift from a reactionary approach to focusing on intelligence gathering that will proactively help to nip such planned attacks in the bud.
Power Sector Crisis

In spite of the fact that electricity is considered a major determinant of economic development, access to electricity, that is, supply to homes and businesses has remained dismal in Nigeria on the backdrop of a flawed privatization exercise. 

Averaging 4,500 megawatts in the past eight years, Nigerians are looking forward to improved electricity supply.  

It is our earnest hope that the new Electricity Act 2023, which replaces the 2005 Electricity and Power Sector Reform Act will promote private sector investments in the Nigerian power sector and break the monopoly of the nation’s electricity generation, transmission and distribution.

If the act really means that the entire process has been decentralized, then we can expect the best for both private and commercial consumers of energy.

The focus on clean, renewable and alternative sources of power generation should also be strengthened and made accessible to all classes of people in the society.

We pray earnestly that the Tinubu led administration will see to the implementation of this Act in a manner that the benefits can be credited to the well-being of our people.

War Against Corruption

Reports of numerous probe panels instituted especially by the two chambers of the National Assembly and other Agencies of Government have been more entertaining to the public than fighting against corruption.

It is more worrisome and embarrassing where key anti-graft personnels are involved in monumental corrupt practices with damaging consequences to the image of the country, especially in the eyes of potential foreign investors.

Consequently, we expect from this government that henceforth appointments into the top echelon of all Anti- Corruption Agencies like EFCC, ICPC and Code of Conduct Bureau be thorough, painstaking and devoid of any political consideration so that the integrity of those at the helm of affairs shall not be called to question as we have seen in recent times.  

The fight against corruption should not only be fought, but must be seen to be fought with prosecutions and convictions with severe sanctions that will serve as a deterrence to anyone planning to toe such a path.
Education
Education is at the center of building human capital. The latest World Bank research shows that the productivity of 56 percent of the world’s children could be better if they enjoyed complete education and full health.  

For individuals, education raises self-esteem and opens up opportunities for employment and earnings. And, for a country, it helps strengthen institutions within societies, drives long-term economic growth, reduces poverty, and spurs innovation. 

It is our expectation that the new administration will do all it can to equip our youths with the skills to keep learning, adapt to changing realities, and thrive in an increasingly competitive global economy.
Agriculture and the Looming Food Crisis

There is disturbing data from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) predicting that about 25.3 million people will face food insecurity across Nigeria between June and August 2023. 

FAO in the statement warned that if actions are not taken to avert the crisis, 4.4 million people in Borno, Adamawa and Yobe States will be severely affected. 

It is a shame that despite our vast arable lands and huge human capital and financial resources, our dear country could be categorized as being unable to feed its citizens.

It is even more laughable that Nigeria is accepting food aids from countries under war situations such as Ukraine.

We expect the government to declare a state of emergency in the Agriculture and Food sector, while establishing farm settlements across all the states of the federation that will convert our teeming unemployed youths into productive ventures to avert the looming food crisis.
Conclusion
In spite of the situations in the nation, we are happy to report that the Church of Jesus Christ is marching on and the forces of hell shall never prevail against it. Amen. 

We will continue to lift up our leaders in prayers as instructed in the Bible in 1 Timothy 2:1-2. It says: “I exhort therefore, that, first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men; For kings, and for all that are in authority; that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty”.

I seize this opportunity to enjoin all Christians and indeed all Nigerians to remain focused and calm, and to support and pray for the success of our political leaders irrespective of our diverse political persuasions so that the plans of the Lord for the prosperity of this nation can see the light of day.

Prayers still work. And it will work for Nigeria in Jesus mighty name. Amen.
** Bishop Taiwo Akinola,
Apostolic Presbyter, CGN Inc.
Pastor-General & President, RCC&T Int’l delivered this address at the New-Wine/Fresh Fire Conference organized by Christ Global Network on Saturday, June 10, 2023, at Rhema Christian Church & Towers, Ota, Ogun State, Nigeria.