The Archbishop of the Anglican Communion, Kaduna province, Most Reverend Timothy Yahaya, has called on the National Assembly to set up a forensic audit committee to probe the agricultural sector and uncover billions of naira that have sunk into it.
In his New Year message to Nigerians, the archbishop said that only God is the people’s hope, adding that the government has no hope to give its citizenry.
Bishop Yahaya’s position followed President Bola Tinubu’s message to Nigerians on New Year’s Day. In it, he assured that there is hope that 2025 will be a better year for the country while urging Nigerians to be focused and united.
The Anglican Bishop also lamented billions of naira pumped into the agricultural sector by the federal government in the penultimate year, which, according to him, did not show corresponding results other than hunger and starvation in the land.
Fielding questions from Journalists on New Year’s Day, the Anglican 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, there is hope. Why did I say what I said? Last year, the government had a budget of over 28 trillion naira; what did you see? Hunger in the land, frustration in the land. We asked ourselves, where did this trillion naira go? The roads are still the same, the hospitals are still the same, the schools are still there, and everything you call infrastructure in this country is the same. 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 didn’t agree that there is hope, if people were not hungry, they wouldn’t have rushed for that food. If you are talking about any angle, could you check the people who 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 for the kitchen of Mr President should not be more than the budget of one West African country. Mr President’s travelling expenses 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 inwardly and be very patriotic about our country. And if we are all patriotic, from the president down to every commoner in this country, this year will be more significant. But as long as we continue our greed, selfishness and unpatriotism, we will not go anywhere. When preaching, I talked about going abroad to buy what we can produce in Nigeria. This must stop if we want to make progress as a nation.
“Look at Abuja-Kaduna—Zaria-Kano Road. After nine years, we are still working on the same road, bickering over the same road. Only in Nigeria do 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 2 trillion naira was paid as ransom. How much is the whole Nigeria economy? So that means criminality is rewarded in this country. How many companies made up to 2 trillion naira, but criminals in this country made up to 2 trillion naira? That means 60 per cent of families in Nigeria were affected by this insecurity. Our government should do better.
“Apart from that, the issue of food, and 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 budgeted from all sorts of banks and 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 funds 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 private hands performing like this. The national grid is failing again and again. In Nigeria, we buy a transformer and pay for installation; these companies are supposed to provide the transformer. They are not providing it. When you purchase and install the transformer, they say it is their own. If not criminality, in which country does this happen? How can the transformer you bought belong to a company? This is daylight robbery; this must change.
“And I want to plead with the government that we must teach technology because certificates worldwide are failing. It is skills that give jobs all over the world today. 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, yet we find ourselves doing the same old things and expect to catch up with the world. Our young people should be given skills; if given those skills, they can conquer the world.
“Let’s go and learn from India. India controls technology companies all over the world, so why? Because they decided to train their young ones in 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 value to this generation. Some courses 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 of Nigeria, act Nigeria, believe Nigeria, and 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 world. And if Nigerian survives, Africa will survive, and I think the world will be heaven on earth.”
