‘Survival of Nigeria is only in the hands of God’ – Archbishop Israel Amoo

 

Archbishop Israel Afolabi Amoo od the Anglican Communion of Kwara State has said that the survival of the nation is only in the hands of God as every index of a sustainable nation has disintegrated.

The cleric made this assertion while speaking at the 26th Provincial Council Meeting of the Church of Nigeria, Anglican Communion Ecclesiastical Province of Kwara state, held at Offa, Offa Local Government Area of Kwara State.

The Archbishop said the Nation is currently navigating a multifaceted challenges marked by insecurity, economic challenges, and underlying political tensions been witnessed in various parts of the nation.

According to him, the nation is besieged by a variety of security threats, ranging from banditry, terrorism, kignapping to insurgency across various parts of the nation.

” The ation is also witnessing conflicts between farmers and harders, which has brought untold hardship to many communities with many families rendered homeless and their means of livelihood completely distrupted.

“This has impacted negatively on the overall Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of the nation.
The inflation index is on the soaring state and unemployment is rising, which has left a significant number of citizens struggling to meet their basic needs.

“Unfortunately for us, we cannot see any serious attempt by the government to improve our livelihood.  Right from the first day of this government, it has been woes upon woes with promises that were never meant to be fulfilled.

“The abrupt removal of the petrol subsidy without proper economic controls was  a direct hit on the average Nigerians.

“The collapse of our exchange rate, poor implementation of government policies and the unfortunate compromise of some key arms of government.

“More especially the Legislature have further brought us to a more sorry state.  The last General Elections across the nation and the manner of conduct of ensuring elections tribunal activities showed that the judiciary is no longer the hope of the common man.

“All of this has climax to our hopelessness as a nation.  It has been bad before, but now the situation is both hopeless and unbearable to say the least.

“It is very disheartening how visionless some of our political leaders are, some of them are not even thinking of how to address some of these unfortunate situations of our nation, and to save the nation from anarchy but on how to win in the coming elections.

“There are lots of internal party tensions, cross-carpeting, back stabbing of political opponents and abuse of the constitution of our nation, all in the bid to hold power endlessly.

“The youth no longer believe that they are the leaders of tomorrow as those in government have refused to leave office.  What we see is recycling of the same old people with change of portfolios and political nomenclatures,” he added

He pointed out that no sector of the economy is working as it were, education is at its abysmal state, industrialization is low paced with the country virtually importing every product in the market.

According to the cleric, there is no access to stable employment or social support systems fostering a climate of discontentment and political upheaval, with the average Nigerian being the worse hit.

“And we in the faith-based ministries are not left out because we depend on the free will of members of the church.  If the members of our congregation are suffering and their welfare not taken care of, they cannot do beyond their means.  They can only give what they have.  And this has also worsened the challenge of missions and world evangelization and further weakening the moral fabric of the nation.

“There is nothing that makes Sodom and Gomorrah to be destroyed by God that have not taken place in our country.  However, we believe that there are a few that are still standing in the gap and standing up for righteousness, Archbishop added

The cleric advised the leaders to make an  attempt at solving the challenges of our nation by tackling corruption head on and reinforcing the mechanisms of good governance.

According to him, these are imperative steps towards restoring public confidence and ensuring stability within the nation.

“The challenge of developing a state or nation is not a leadership challenge alone.  Both the leadership and followership are involved in this.  There is need for a good collaboration and synergy between the leadership and the followership.

” Everyone must resolve to eschew corruption and wickeness in all its ramifications.  However as it is often said, everything rises and falls on leadership.

Archbishop Amoo prayed that that God will arise and do something for us, saying the Church will keep praying for the nation and play our roles as people of God.