There
is no country in the world that can face the kind of stealing that has taken
place in Nigeria without having to deal with the consequences, including the
current state of the economy.
Vice
President Yemi Osinbajo, SAN, made this assertion today while receiving a
delegation of the Northern States Pentecostal Bishops Forum in his office at
the Presidential Villa, assuring however that even though the times are hard
today, “there is great hope that this country will prosper.”
According
to him, “this country has been badly governed. We are dealing for instance with
the embezzlement of funds to the tune of $15B in one sector alone. “
Continuing,
Prof. Osinbajo observed that there are those who are asking ‘why talking about
the past’ and he posed a response: “We have to, that is why we are here.”
“We
have not turned attention to the oil and gas sector, where the former CBN
Governor alleged that $20B was stolen. We must condemn and stand up against
this level of corruption. It is the single most important reason of the current
state of the country. We can’t ignore it.”
The
Vice President then called on Christian and religious leaders generally in the
country to condemn corruption “openly.” He added that “we can’t say because
they are Christians or Muslims we wont condemn those involved in corruption.”
Responding
to the views of the leader of the delegation, Archbishop John Praise Daniel
that members of the forum have been actively involved in the fight against
corruption in Nigeria, the VP said indeed the “country has been systematically
destroyed.”
He
explained: “Our currency depreciated because we don't have the reserves to back
it. At the height of the oil boom, there were no savings.”
In
addition to the massive fall in oil prices, the VP stated that the
vandalization of pipelines has led to a worsening of the situation with the
country loosing about 1m barrels of oil per day for up to 6 months now. The
vandalism has equally cut power supply short since gas pipelines were also
destroyed.
“That
is the background for the sort of situation we find ourselves,” Prof Osinbajo
asserted while expressing renewed hope that “God surely has a plan for this
country. We (as a government) are open, honest, transparent and we shall use
the resources of this country very well.”
He
pointed out that the recent GDP figures released last week indicated clearly
there is growth in agriculture and solid minerals. According to him “agric and
solid minerals have witnessed improvements.”
The
social investment programmes according to the Vice President are on course,
reassuring the nation “that very soon the 500,000 jobs scheme will take off,”
alongside other schemes.
Earlier
Archbishop Daniel expressed the support of the forum for the diversification of
the Nigerian economy by the Buhari presidency, while calling for access to
lower interest rates. The forum also asked the federal government to checkmate
the violent herdsmen, create ranches in the states and promote religious
harmony.
Responding
the Vice President noted that President Buhari has given clear instructions to
the security agencies to deal with anyone regardless of status who carries arms
and also deal with anyone that causes and perpetrates violence of any kind.
“The
President has said twice in the past fortnight that anyone who commits
atrocities must be arrested and tried and he has demonstrated that resolve,”
Prof Osinbajo said.
He
however added that generally the country’s criminal justice system is rather
slow in delivering justice, adding that there is need for justice sector
reforms.
His
words: “the justice system is very slow, not just in some cases, but generally
extremely slow. For example it takes for ever before a murder trial gets to
court.”
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