…As Ukiwe tasks clerics for divine intervention

By Adesina Wahab

FORMER Chief Executive Officer, Nigeria Economic Summit Group, Prof. Anya O. Anya, yesterday, expressed worry that if Nigeria were to be a company, by now it would have been under receivership for possible resuscitation

Anya, who stated this in Lagos while delivering the 21st Mike Okonkwo Annual Lecture, noted that it would take a series of miracles for the nation to get out of the interwoven socio-political and economic challenges it has found itself.

This came as former Chief of General Staff, Commodore Ebitu Ukiwe (retd), urged clerics and religious leaders in the country to fervently pray for divine intervention.

Anya, in his lecture titled ‘Nigeria: Culture, values, democratic governance and development,’ noted that with the national debt being close to N50 trillion, and national earnings not enough to service the huge debt, all indices of bankruptcy were already manifested in the economic life of the country.

He said: “Unemployment is chasing the 40% mark even as the inflation rate is slowly inching upward towards the 20% mark. The exchange rate has come from around N400 to a dollar to N700 to the dollar in less than two months. We now need trillions of naira to pay the so-called petroleum subsidy. If this were a private company, we would have called in the receivers because the bankruptcy case is strong. Over the last seven years, our GDP has hovered between 2,3 or at most 4 percent per annum. For accelerated growth that would match population growth, we need growth of 11 percent in our GDP.

“Experience over the last 50 years has shown that economies can grow on the fast track and double their GDP within a decade as Singapore, China, South Korea and Taiwan have been able to do in the last 30 years. This is why Singapore has the highest GDP per capita in the world, higher than the United States the largest economy globally.”

On the security challenges facing the nation, Anya said: “We need to recall and mobilise all the retired military and paramilitary personnel in our country. There are among them a reservoir of experience, expertise and patriotism that we can ignore only at our peril. We must also create an environment for enduring social and political harmony. The easiest path to that end is the immediate implementation of those aspects of the 2014 National Conference that have constitutional and long-term policy impact.”

Level of intolerance, division worrisome —Ukiwe

Ukiwe, who was the chairman of the occasion, noted that having served in various capacities as a public officer, he could not recollect a period where the level of intolerance, division and other negative forces were this high in Nigeria.

His words: “My remarks are not influenced by any emotion or sentiments, but I am speaking from personal experience gained from serving this country in various capacities before and after independence. There is no time we have experienced this level of intolerance and, division among ourselves. Bishop Mike Okonkwo should liaise with other clerics and they should go on their knees to seek divine intervention in the affairs of this country.”

In his remarks, the Presiding Bishop of The Redeemed Evangelical Mission, TREM, Bishop Mike Okonkwo, who was celebrating his 77th birthday, said Nigerians should seek the face of God and live according to His will.

He noted that the challenges confronting the country were not insurmountable, but that the people should also be ready to do the needful.