Paul Osuyi, Asaba
Governor Ifeanyi Okowa of Delta State, yesterday, called on religious bodies to embark on intercession for God to intervene in the myriads of challenges bedevilling Nigeria and the global economy.
Okowa made the call in Asaba, while playing host to the national executive of the Order of the Knights of Saint Mulumba, Nigeria.
The governor said a lot of support was needed from the Christian bodies in tackling the problems of insecurity, unemployment, poverty, coronavirus pandemic and recession which, he said, needed prayers for God to reverse the ugly trend.
He frowned at the way population was outweighing economic growth in Nigeria, and advocated action that would checkmate population explosion.
The governor blamed the growing rate of youths restiveness, unemployment and insecurity on poor parental guidance and urged religious organisations to help in the sensitisation of youths on the need to uphold good traits.
He said government’s efforts at job creation and employment of youths in the country have not yielded enough result due to the sharp increase in birth rate.
“There is no doubt that a lot has to be done in order to improve the standard of living of our people. Unfortunately, unemployment is increasing by the day and even those who are employed, a large percentage of them are under-employed because what they earn is not enough to keep their families going,” the governor said.
According to him, the present economic downturn in the country was due to the second wave of COVID-19 which has negatively impacted on global economy, adding that there was need for everybody to obey all protocols that would curtail spread of the virus.
“I also believe as we discuss issues around COVID-19, we should pray for our nation, Nigeria. We believe spiritual impact on our nation is actually required to take us out of where we are and the more we begin to know our God and rely on Him, the more our people get to realise we must be our brother’s keeper as God has instructed us to love our neighbours as ourselves,” he said.