Pastor Tunde Bakare who serves as Overseer of the Citadel Global Community Church (formerly known as The Latter Rain Assembly), has said the problems of Nigeria are too many, and that the only way to effectively address them is to reset the country.
The former convener of Save Nigeria Group, SNG, while speaking during a church service in Lagos, said it is no longer a secret that the country is sick as issues of corruption, unemployment and insecurity continue to torment the population.
He said, “These are clear indications that the issues we swept under the carpet in past decades are still staring us in the face. We cannot continue to hide under the umbrella of one finger. It is time to address the underlying issues of nationhood and reset Nigeria on the path to predictable progress.
“The way forward for these recurring questions of federalism, including that of regional or state policing is to travel downwards to revisit the constitutional foundations while looking upwards with unwavering faith in our divinely ordained destiny as one strong, united nation, with a strong federal government and strong federating units; a nation in which government as an entity is close enough to serve the people and strong enough to protect them."
It says while it comes as no surprise, it however, explains the excruciating poverty and escalated insecurity being suffered by Nigerians in the last five years.
It says, “The picture is becoming clearer on how APC leaders, in the last five years, siphoned and pocketed over N14 trillion, from various government agencies, meant for the development of the nation and the welfare of Nigerians.
“This explains why the APC administration has failed to expose those involved in the wholesale stealing of N9.6 trillion ($25 billion) oil money as detailed in the leaked NNPC memo just as no steps have been taken by the APC government to investigate and recover the money.
“This is in addition to the mindless looting in revenue- related agencies including the Federal Inland Revenue Services (FIRS), the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS), National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) and the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) among other agencies, which have been turned into ATM machines for APC leaders while Nigerians suffer neglect.
On looting of borrowed funds the party said, “More distressing are allegations that APC leaders are also looting part of the huge borrowings by the Buhari administration as well as diverting social intervention funds, such as the N500 billion Social Investment Programme fraud revealed by First Lady Aisha Buhari.
“This is in addition to alleged stealing of repatriated funds and proceeds of huge multiple taxes imposed by the APC administration
“This massive looting by the APC is responsible for the collapse of infrastructure in all sectors; a frightening 23.1 per cent unemployment rate, escalated insecurity, high costs of essential goods, increased morbidity rate, reduced life expectancy and a despondent citizenry.
“It also explains why the Buhari administration cannot point to any concrete achievement in the last five years other than reckless external borrowing, destruction of our productive sector, wrecking of our naira and an agonizing poverty, for which Nigerians now resort to suicide and slavery missions abroad as options”,