Worried by the Federal Government’s continuous borrowings, President, Vision Africa International and Co-Chair Interfaith Dialogue Forum for Peace, Bishop Sunday Onuoha, has advised government to think of the impact on future generations and end all borrowings.
He said the Federal Government should not mortgage the future of the younger generation who may be left to service the huge debts taken by the current government, saying it would be unfair to punish them with such liabilities.
The cleric said it was important for the Federal Government to define its plans this new year and do away with old habits, especially borrowing from foreign countries.
“One thing about borrowing is that while doing it, it appears enjoyable, but where the problem sets in is when you don’t have any hope of paying back, or when you haven’t invested wisely with the borrowed money, hence problem may ensue at this point. Borrowing may not be a bad idea if you invest and make judicious use of it, but in the Nigerian context, where there is recession, a lot may not be achieved in terms of pay back because those monies go into servicing old debts without plans to invest.”
He enjoined the Federal Government to invest in youths who had the potential to unlock grey areas to the benefit of the entire country, noting that investing in them would take care of restiveness and all manner of agitations witnessed in the country in recent times.
The Methodist bishop urged the Federal Government to invest massively in agriculture, saying that before the oil boom era, agriculture was the mainstay of the economy, providing jobs for millions of Nigerians.
He said government should invest more in agriculture now that the price of oil globally had crashed.
He said if proper attention was given to the sector, it could assist Nigeria offset its multiplicity of debts.