Primate of the Church of Nigeria, Anglican Communion, Most Rev. Henry Ndukuba has called on President Bola Tinubu to give his economic team free hand to operate.
Ndukuba who made the call yesterday in Abuja while speaking with journalists at the 10th anniversary celebration of Advent Cable Network Nigeria (ACNN), said the technocrats cannot work if the government failed to give them free hand to operate.
The primate said they must be allowed to do what they should do, and also the politicians should be mindful of the welfare of Nigerians.
“No matter how they get to that position, no matter who they think will be the sustaining power, the life of ordinary Nigerian, the future of this nation is at stake, and we all must salvage it together, let us work together and do our best. The best place to be is in Nigeria. And I know that with all that God has blessed us with, Nigeria is destined to be a great nation.
“I think that we have all it takes, but when some key areas are not properly managed, and even the good programmes of the government, palliatives, helping the needy, giving some money to help the subsistence farmers, helping the little business people.
“These are wonderful ideas, but how many of them get them and use them? Who monitors it when some of the money is released for good programmes, and plans of the government? But some of the implementers will divert them for their personal use, and the ordinary person will suffer. We have wonderful programmes, but the implementation is fraught with issues.
“So, I think that there is a need for what the government has started to be pursued. The assemblage of the team that is in place now must be given a free hand and opportunity to bring in their knowledge,” he said.
Ndukuba further said that at 63rd Anniversary, Nigerians can see that there may be some challenges, “but as it is always said Rome was not built in a day.”
“When you think of America at the age of 63, all United Kingdom at the age of 63 all other nations of the world, the great nations that we look up to, it will be very clear that Nigeria has not done badly.
“We have our challenges, and we must agree and not only accept that we have challenges, but we must agree that we are willing and determined to address those challenges. One of the areas that we have challenges, is our economy.”
“But a good and strong economy is an outcome of many other factors, the stability of the monetary system, the sustainability of the economy, and the possibility of growth industrially and otherwise, but also you think of security and you think of other things,” he said.
The primate stressed that there are so many other things that are contributing to the economy, adding that when the political system is not something that the international community can trust, no serious investor will come to the country.