Bishop Anene Nwachukwu has decried the inability of President Muhammadu Buhari to constitute his cabinet six months after he was declared winner of the 2019 Presidential poll.
Nwachukwu urged the president to announce members of his cabinet without further delay and face the business of governance squarely to enable his administration find lasting solutions to the nation’s many challenges.
The cleric said that Buhari’s action may not be in the interest of Nigeria as such delay can hinder the overall development of the nation’s economy.
Nwachukwu, the Overseer of Rhema Deliverance Ministry, Lagos, also reminded the president how such delay in 2015 impacted negatively on the economy.
The bishop charged Buhari to learn from his first tenure’s mistakes when the delay in constituting his cabinet undermined the steady growth of the economy.
Nwachukwu, who spoke during the closing ceremony of the 2019 Convention of Rhema Deliverance Ministry at its Lagos international headquarters, expressed his disappointment over Buhari’s slow pace in addressing the country’s numerous problems.
The cleric however, urged Nigerians not to lose hope despite the apparent slow pace of the president.
“I want to encourage Nigerians that there is still a better tomorrow. We must not give up on our nation. President Buhari appears to be slow but we pray that God will use the men around him to put him through.
“I thought that immediately after his inauguration, the president should have announced his ministers. The Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, declared him winner of the Presidential Election in February.
It has taken him almost six months to announce his ministers and form his cabinet,” he said.
According to him, “I had thought that the next day after the inauguration of the 9th National Assembly; Buhari would send the ministerial list to the legislators but you can see that what happened in 2015 is still happening today.”
The cleric, who said that the country is currently adrift, called for fervent prayer for Nigeria’s leadership as he decried the increasing poverty situation in the country.
He charged Buhari to match his words with action in finding lasting solution to poverty and hunger across the land.
“We need to pray for the president, he said that he will lift millions of Nigerians out of poverty, but I don’t know how he intends to do that. A journey of 1000 miles begins with a step. If he is going to lift the citizens out of poverty in the next few years, at least, he should begin the process now. “Let us see the sample of what he intends to do.”
Nwachukwu, who deplored the poor state of roads in Nigeria, urged the president to fix the roads to ease transportation difficulties that the citizens go through every day.
“If Buhari can fix the roads, those that have vehicles can use them as means of transportation to feed their families. But most of the roads are in terrible state. For example, you cannot drive to Apapa, the road is a no-go-area, as a result of bad potions and menace of truck drivers. The vital international road, Lagos-Badagry Expressway is now in a terrible state.
“If you are coming from Ghana, Togo and other West African countries, you will drive on smooth roads to Cotonou; I have been there several times, but the moment you come into the giant of Africa from Seme to Mile 2, you can call it the hell fire high way,” he said.
“We have the federal government, state governors and legislators, yet none of them is saying anything about the state of this road. Why can’t they look at the only major international route in Nigeria and fix it. Before now, it was said that Lagos was in the opposition camp but today that Lagos is with the ruling party, state of infrastructure appears to be worse than what it used to be.
“The Trade Fair has become a graveyard because of the state of the roads. Economic activities thrive when there is a connecting road network, when there is no killing here and there, so I think that the government is not doing enough to alleviate the suffering of the masses,” he said.
The cleric also lamented the spate of killings in Nigeria, saying that the bloodshed in the last four years was unprecedented in the country’s history.
“Are you talking about killings by the herdsmen and kidnapping: banditry is now the talk of the town. But these bandits have their sponsors. However, since every security apparatus belongs to the president, he should do more to tackle insecurity in the country. Even during the civil war, people were not killed the way they are being killed since the past four years,” he said.
On the vision behind the convention which was entitled, ‘Let me pass,’ he said, “I got a revelation from God that so many believers are in bondage and in search of the way out. Some people are stuck with the problems of this life and God referred me to the book of Numbers 21:21 where the Israelites were to pass but a wicked king blocked their way.
“So also, many people are being blocked that they cannot pass to possess their possessions, God told me to raise for him men of proven integrity that will join hands with me in liberating people by dismantling every chain and roadblock. Some people are trapped by the challenges of life so we are here to remove the roadblocks and give them escorts.”
