COP28 Delegates: Govt Taking Steps Not In Consonance With Raising Nigerians Standard Of Living

The Bishop of Atamunu Diocese, Methodist Church, Rt. Rev. Otuekong Okut, on Tuesday, joined the fray of critics, blaming the federal government’s sponsorship of a contingent of 1,411 persons to attend climate change conference in Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE).

The cleric described this act as a waste of the country’s scarce resources, saying the country is likely to sink to the abyss if this act of squandermania is not halted.

Otuekong made the remarks in a telephone conversation with LEADERSHIP days after rounding off the church convention, which hosted over 5,000 christian faithful at church ground in Atamunu Street, Càlabar.

“The present government has been taking steps not in consonance with raising the standard of living of the people.

He stated that over 140 million people in Nigeria still live below poverty line. Continuing further, he said: “We have about 140m living below the poverty line in Nigeria currently, because of economic policies taken by the federal government, I am talking of micro and macro economic policies of the federal government.”

The cleric stated that the suffering by Nigerians is as a result of fiscal policies of the federal government, which, he claimed, had worsened the situation of the average Nigerian.

He alleged that based on the United Nations statistics those who constitute the middle class in the society are presently living below the poverty line

He said, “The middle level has been obliterated with over 40 million people living under the poverty line according to the United Nations statistics.

“This shows that the system we currently run cannot progress this country nor lift us up to a higher pedestal.”

Recall that the federal government came under fire by different groups after it funded a contingent to Dubai to enable the contingent to attend the climate change Confab in Dubai.