4 July 2009
Lagos — THE Presbyterian Church of Nigeria has expressed disappointment at the little gains of 10 years of democracy in the country, saying Nigerians have witnessed near collapse, rather than development of the nation's socio-economic infrastructure.
The church noted, with dismay, the abject decay in the nation's rail, road and water transportation network, electricity and water supply, health-care and agricultural sectors as well as the declining standard of education. It said: "Unemployment, insecurity of lives and property, poverty, and low capacity utilization in industries have worsened," adding that the Niger Delta crisis, has been allowed to degenerate to a guerilla warfare dimension.
Noting that credible elections, which are the bedrock of democracy, have eluded the nation as "polls are characterized by violence and willful manipulation of the electoral process," the church appealed to the political class to recognize the collective interest of the people as the primary purpose of governance and strive to give Nigerians dividends of democracy.
In a communiqué issued at the end of the meeting of its General Assembly Executive Committee (GAEC) at St. Paul's Parish, Ogbor Hill, Aba, Abia State, the church blamed the government for allowing strike action in the nation's universities in spite of the warning strike embarked upon by the Academic Staff Union of Universities over government's agreement with the union.
The church called on government to respond immediately to the issues raised by the union to avert a prolonged strike which would have devastating effects on the already declining standard of education in the country.
The communiqué, jointly signed by the moderator of the General Assembly, Dr. Ubon Bassey Usung and the principal clerk, The Rev. Ndukwe Nwachukwu Eme, welcomed President Musa Yar' Adua's offer of amnesty to militants in the Niger Delta as a prelude to ending the crisis in the region and paving the way for amicable resolution.
While the church called on all militant groups to embrace the amnesty offer, it urged the Federal Government to come up with an action plan to address the issue of marginalization and gross neglect of the needs of the people of the area in order to bring to an end the civil unrest in the region.
Be the first to Write a Comment!
Copyright © 2009 Vanguard. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). To contact the copyright holder directly for corrections — or for permission to republish or make other authorized use of this material, click here.
AllAfrica aggregates and indexes content from over 125 African news organizations, plus more than 200 other sources, who are responsible for their own reporting and views. Articles and commentaries that identify allAfrica.com as the publisher are produced or commissioned by AllAfrica.
