Tinubu must tackle hunger, poverty to avert ‘looming danger’, Anglican bishop warns

The archbishop, Province of the Niger and bishop, Diocese of Awka, Anglican Communion, Alexander Ibezim, said on Saturday that poverty and hunger were major threats to the nation’s peace and unity.

Mr Ibezim said this while delivering the archbishop’s charge during the second session of the 13th Synod of the Diocese of Awka, Anglican Communion, in Awka.

He urged the authorities to make concerted efforts to ameliorate economic and security challenges faced by the populace.

He said it was unfortunate that despite the federal government’s efforts, the prices of food and other essential items had continued to rise.

Mr Ibezim described the Bola Tinubu-led administration’s economic policies as bereft of the necessary values for the economy and called on the president to overhaul them.

He appealed to Mr Tinubu to declare a state of emergency on poverty and hunger in the country. He called for the release of the detained leader of the Indigenous Peoples of Biafra (IPOB).

“The pain faced by Nigerians is compounded by the weakening naira due to the forex exchange situation and increases in pump price of fuel, cooking gas, kerosene, and electricity tariffs.

“Time is now for the leadership of the country to avert the looming danger. Nigeria is rapidly on the way to economic and political perdition. May God help our nation.

“The truth remains that injustice sets back a nation, and once an ideology about injustice is imbibed into a people, no amount of force can quell it unless justice is done,” he said.

The archbishop commended the Charles Soludo-led government in Anambra on the level of development in the state, especially in the education sector.

He also called the governor’s attention to some areas grappling with the menace of cultism and touting.

The speaker of the Anambra State House of Assembly, Somtochukwu Udeze, said the church has an enormous role to play in contemporary Nigeria.

He called on church leaders to intensify efforts in children’s ministry to catch them young into noble characters as they mature.

(NAN)