Pastor Peter Oboh, Founder of Jesus Loves You Ministry, has said Nigeria is over 60 years old, but far from improving in the basic things of life, which was getting worse with the Federal Government’s borrowings.

The former pugilist put the blame at the feet of leaders that, he said, were bent on widening the gap between the poor and the rich, since a substantial part of the borrowed money goes into “feeding”.

Oboh, the ex-Commonwealth and British boxing champion, said the seemingly unquenchable taste to borrow was one of the ways the country was selling its citizens short.

DMO

Recall that the Debt Management Office, DMO, had disclosed that Nigeria’s public debt was N38 trillion as of the end of the third quarter of 2021, with the total debt stock rising by N2.540 trillion in three months from July to September 2021.

READ ALSO: Borrowed money only 23% of GDP — FG

Furthermore, according to the projections in the National Development Plan 2021-2025, the Federal Government wants to push its public debt stock to N50.22 trillion by 2023.

Domestic debt would be N28.75 trillion, while external debt would be at N21.47 trillion.

The Government borrowings would be focused on domestic bonds and concessional external loans.

‘You don’t borrow to feed’

However, speaking to newsmen, Pastor Oboh expressed misgivings with the spate of borrowings, the use of the funds and implications for future generations of Nigerians.

According to him, “We must note this; every year our currency reduces in value because we love to take loans from the West.

“Most loans come with a clause that favours the giver. And we are not exporting much but importing almost everything.

“Even now that the New Year is approaching, the value of the naira is gone down heavily against the US dollar.

“Now, since a substantial part of the borrowed funds goes into overhead, which I call ‘feeding’, there’s no chance of standing.

“But one thing that is sure is the rich are getting fatter, while the poor are getting thinner and, from depression, producing more children.

“Nigeria can only be purged from backwardness if the leaders and citizen are willing to renew their minds from that self-centered spirit (which is the spirit of the devil).

“We need a selfless spirit, which is caring. That is the spirit of the Most High God,” the ex-boxing champion, Pastor Oboh, admonished.

Vanguard News Nigeria