From Noah Ebije, Kaduna
The Archbishop of Anglican communion, Kaduna Province, Bishop Timothy Yahaya, has said only God is the hope of the people, adding that government has no hope to offer its citizenry.
Bishop Yahaya’s position followed President Bola Tinubu’s new year message to Nigerians where he assured that 2025 will be a better year for the country, and also urged Nigerians to be focused and united.
The Anglican Bishop recalled with lamentations billions of naira that were pumped into the agricultural sector by the Federal Government penultimate year, which according to him, did not show corresponding results other than hunger and starvation in the land.
He called on the Senate to set up a forensic audit committee to probe the agricultural sector to uncover billions of naira sunk into the sector.
Answering questions from journalists, the Bishop said: “I agree with President Bola Tinubu that there is hope for Nigeria. Because there is God, there is hope, not because there is government. Why did I say what I said? Last year, the government had over N28 trillion budget, what did you see? Hunger in the land, frustration in the land. We asked ourselves where this trillion naira went? The roads are still the same, the hospitals are still the same, the schools are still the same, infrastructure in this country has not improved. How many times did the national grid fail? Let’s be very sincere to ourselves.
“The year that had just passed, they promised us the best, and yet people because of hunger were stampeded to death. Whether we agreed or we didn’t agree that there is hope, if people were not hungry, they wouldn’t have rushed for that food. Any angle you are talking about, go and check the people that came for that food. So, whether we like it or not, I believe with God, Nigeria in 2025 will be better. But let our leaders change their ways, they should trim what they do.
“The budget of the kitchen of Mr. President should not be more than the budget of one West African country. The traveling expenses of Mr. President should be cut down. If you look at how much our president spends on travelling, people in the first world don’t spend that amount of money. We must look inward and be patriotic about our country. And if we are all patriotic, from the president down to every commoner in this country, I tell you this year will be greater. But as long as we continue with our greed, selfishness and unpatriotism, we will not go anywhere. When I was preaching, I talked about the fact that we go abroad to buy what we can produce in Nigeria. This must stop if we want to make progress as a nation.
“Look at the Abuja-Kaduna-Zaria-Kano road, after nine years, we are still working on the same road, we are bickering over the same road. It is only in Nigeria you have a date for starting a contract but you don’t have a date for finishing the contract. Don’t award what you cannot execute. Don’t do it.
“Secondly, I want to thank the security forces, but they can do better because if you look at last year, the statistics showed that over N2 trillion was paid as ransom. How much is the whole Nigeria’s economy? So, that means criminality is rewarded in this country. How many companies made up to N2 trillion? But criminals made up to N2 trillion. That means 60 percent of families in Nigeria were affected by insecurity. I think our government should do better.
“Apart from that, there is the issue of food. I still insist that the problem of food in Nigeria is because those in charge of food security don’t know what to do. If you look at the amount of money that is budgeted from all sorts of banks, government agencies on agriculture, the truth is where is the money? I call on the National Assembly to set up a forensic audit committee to audit the money that was sunk into agriculture. You will see monumental corruption in the agricultural sector.
“You sink money into agriculture, yet we don’t see food. That is because people who know nothing about agriculture are stealing that money. I dare to say it, we say we have given our power to private hands to generate electricity, I have never seen where private hands are performing the way these ones are performing. The national grid is failing again and again. In Nigeria, we buy a transformer, pay for installation. The transformer is supposed to be provided by these companies. They are not providing it. When you buy and install the transformer, they say it is their own. If it’s not criminality, in which country does this happen? How can the transformer you bought belong to a company? This daylight robbery must change.
“And I want to plead with the government that we need to teach technology because certificates all over the world are failing. It is skills that give jobs all over the world. Our educational system needs a total reformation where our young ones will be given skills. Today, we are moving to the next revolution of Artificial Intelligence (AI). The world is changing fast and yet we find ourselves doing the same old things and we expect to catch up with the world. Our young people should be given skills. If they are given those skills they can conquer the world.
“Let’s go and learn from India. India is controlling the technology companies all over the world. Why? Because they decided to train their young ones on technology. And these young people are doing wonders all over the world. But here in Nigeria, we are still reading old courses that will not add any value in this generation. There are courses that are obsolete. I want to plead with the government to make this country move ahead. I also call on Nigerians to ensure that all hands are on deck to take Nigeria to the next level. If we don’t think Nigeria, act Nigeria, believe Nigeria, push Nigeria ahead, I tell you, Nigeria cannot progress without us. Even those of us who curse Nigeria should always pray for Nigeria. I pray for every sector of this country because Nigeria is the richest and best country in the whole world. And if Nigeria survives, Africa will survive and I think the world will be heaven on earth.”