Archbishop of Anglican Communion, Kaduna Diocese, Rev. Timothy Yahaya, has lamented that Nigeria is so blessed with gold and diamonds, yet her citizens are hungry because of bad leadership.
This is even, as he said, garri and bread that used to be food for ordinary people have become a luxury, as it is above their reach, stressing that even a federal director who is not a thief cannot live a meaningful life with the minimum wage.
Archbishop Yahaya stated this while fielding questions from newsmen on the sidelines of the 23rd Synod and 70th anniversary of Kaduna Diocese, which was held at the St. Christopher Anglican Church Kaduna with the theme: “The Lord is my shepherd.”
He called on the federal government to urgently address food security and insecurity and consider declaring a state of emergency on security, adding that our leaders are not in touch with the plight of the masses.
“The cost of living is no longer easy in Nigeria, garri is now a luxury, minimum wage for two months cannot buy a bag of maize or rice, bread is now a luxury because no minimum wage worker can afford a loaf of bread daily.
“The removal of fuel subsidy has added nothing to us as a country, hyperinflation which has defiled human understanding , taxation everywhere our leaders must sit down and find a holistic solution to the myriad of challenges confronting the country,” he said.
Speaking on the theme of the Synod, he said, as a country, Nigerians must depend on God and the country’s leadership must also go the right way to get the right results and tell each other the truth.
Harping on insecurity, Archbishop Yahaya further lamented the rate at which Nigerian troops are being wasted by insurgents and bandits and wondered if the troops are ill-equipped.
“No meaningful investor will bring foreign investment to Nigeria because of the unsafe environment,” he said.
On the planned nationwide strike by the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) Rev. Dr Yahaya said, the leadership of the NLC must be sincere in what they do, asking where they were when fuel subsidy was removed, which has affected negatively all aspects of living generally.
“NLC needs to be sincere. They did nothing when fuel subsidy was removed. NLC and TUC should tackle workers’ problems holistically because only in Nigeria do people pay for darkness and not complain,” he said.
“My call to Nigerians is to depend on God for intervention and pray for our leaders always to do the right thing,” he said.
