BEVERLY HILLS, January 15, (THEWILL) – The President of the Christian Association of Nigeria, CAN, Dr. Samson Ayokunle, has declared that the economic policies of the Muhammadu Buhari administration do not have a human face, lamenting that difficulties caused by the policies have impacted negatively on the Church.
He noted that the level of poverty in the country has been worsened by government’s delay in payment of salaries, kidnappings across the country, its foreign exchange policy and the weak purchasing power of the naira.
The CAN President stated this in a statement issued by his Media Assistant, Mr. Bayo Oladeji, culled from a sermon: ‘It is not beyond God’s control,’ at the ongoing International General Workers Conference and Ordination Interview of the Nigerian Baptist Convention, in Abuja.
According to him, “Fowls used to be a common gift to friends during Christmas celebration. During the just-ended celebration, it hardly featured as Christmas gift item. Humanly speaking, things are tough for many. Businesses that are foreign-currency dependent are closing down and people are losing their jobs.
“This economic policy appears to lack human face. What is the essence of banning foreign goods when the government has not been able to make such goods locally available in abundance?
“Such ban will just encourage smuggling and a lot of revenue would be lost by government.
“Inability of the government to pay salaries, not only in the states, but at the federal level, as well, is a big dent on the government. My Bible says that the worker deserves prompt payment of his or her wages.
“Of course, the Bible says that the wages must not be delayed till the next day.
“This delay in the payment of salaries has, in turn, affected the operations of many private organisations, including the church. Our economy is public-sector driven. So, to a large extent, whatever is the economic policy of government has excruciating challenge over all other sectors.”
Ayokunle also bemoaned killings in Southern Kaduna and said it was only after the christian body called for a national day of mourning, and a directive to members to wear black that federal and state governments realised the gravity of what was happening in the area.
He also condemned inability of the federal government to create jobs for youths and the spread of kinappings to other regions.
The statement partly read, “University graduates are roaming the streets without anything to do. Those who are working have too many mouths of the unemployed adults to feed. This has increased the level of poverty in our nation and job creation remains a big challenge the government must pay serious attention to.
“The increasing wave of kidnapping may not be unconnected with the lack of tangible employment for many of our able bodied youths.”
“Kidnapping used to be rampant in the East, but has almost become a lucrative business now in the South West and North.”
“It is a very bad experience that Nigerians do not deserve to be passing thrgh. A special squad, if possible, should be trained with necessary surveillance equipment to fish out these criminals who are in the business of kidnapping for ransom. If the government claims they are doing something, they must do more.
“Imagine the biting killings and destruction of farms by Fulani Herdsmen without much being done by the government to prosecute the perpetrators of such acts. The most recent of them was the Southern Kaduna massacre of which the majority of the dead were Christians. The response from the law enforcement agents was so lethargic that CAN had to call for national day of mourning and prayer to seek God’s face so that the destruction might stop, and to protest and let the government know they had failed to protect their citizens.
“No one that died untimely in that unchecked mayhem deserved to die. The killings of the Agatus and other citizens in Benue State, under the watch of both state and federal governments were unfortunate and should be stopped immediately.”
The CAN boss however, commended the federal government and the nation’s Armed Forces for sustaining and winning the war against Boko Haram in the Northeast.
“The federal government and our armed forces must be commended, strongly, for this and be encouraged to sustain the war against insurgency, because, in a country where there is no safety, there would be no development. Insurgents are enemies of the nation, doing nobody any good except for their craziness. We will see their end in no distant time, in the name of Jesus Christ,” he said.
