Timothy Yahaya, the Bishop of the Diocese of Kaduna in the Anglican Communion, has criticized Nigerian political figures over the Dangote Refinery in Lagos’ recent completion and commissioning. He claimed that one person had accomplished what an entire nation had failed to do.
To the detriment of more than 200 million Nigerians, according to Bishop Yahaya, the only thing the country’s leaders could do was use oil as a political football.
He told journalists that the country’s authorities should hang their heads in shame for failing to offer the nation’s thronging population such enormous amounts of functional economic worth and benefits throughout the years.
He continued by adding that Tinubu should declare a state of emergency over the Ajaokuta Steel Rolling Mills because it was past time for the country to diversify its economy and cease being overly dependent on the oil industry.
He compared the abandoned Ajaokuta Steel Rolling Mills to a diamond mine and said that if the mills are restored to improve the economy, many people will be lifted out of poverty.
“Another thing that I must talk about is that if Dangote can build a refinery, a world class refinery, the biggest of its kind in the world, it is a shame to the leaders of this country. You mean an individual can do what 200 million people cannot do? And today, fuel has become politics in our country. The reality of what is happening in the oil sector can only be imagined, the rot and corruption in that sector, only God can deliver this country.
“We want to see a situation whereby, if you want to revive the economy, we must talk about Ajaokuta Steel Rolling Mills, that is a diamond mine that we have neglected in this country. And you know the triple effect of Ajaokuta Steel Rolling Mills? A lot of people will be lifted out of poverty. Apart from that, another agenda for this new administration is agriculture, Any nation that cannot feed itself can never progress.
“When I say agriculture I don’t mean political agriculture. The Anchor borrowers’ money, I make bold to say that it did not reach farmers. It was shared among politicians, 80 or 90 percent of the money went to the politicians. We know what we are talking about, we are talking about nationalism and patriotism. When we talk of agriculture, we want to go to the market and see a bag of rice for N5000 because rice is actually produced in Nigeria. We also talk about the value chain of agriculture, not just producing raw materials and then importing finished products.
“Apart from this, human capital development is through education, look at our schools today, every parent except he is not financially empowered is ashamed to take his children to the school he graduated from. The people leading us today went to government schools, went to unity schools, went to federal schools, went to public schools. Let’s be sincere, even you journalists, are you proud to take your children to government schools? That is why today most corps members cannot write essays, they cannot defend the certificate they have. In this nation that means the future is not there. If you joke with education, you joke with the future of this country,” he said.
