Primate of the All Nigeria Anglican Communion, Most Rev. Henry Ndukuba, has canvassed constitutional reform to address the myriads of challenges facing Nigeria.
Ndukuba, who spoke during the 11th Synod of the Anglican Diocese of Abuja, yesterday, listed the challenges as insecurity, weak economy and political impunity.
As a panacea to the issues, the cleric said the urgency for constitutional reform in Nigeria cannot be overstated.
“The history of this country shows that in the different stages of our development and nationhood, several constitutions were evolved to guide the country. While we commend the National Assembly for the efforts at reviewing the present constitution, we are convinced that what we need is a totally new civilian constitution made by a sovereign representation of the nationalities of this country. This will address the fundamental issues necessary for growing a united and prosperous nation. We need a new citizen-made national constitution and not the amendment of a military formulated constitution.”
Ndukuba tasked political leaders to exercise the necessary will power to return the country to the path of prosperity and peace.
He said Nigerians, irrespective of religious or ethnic affiliations, must join hands in the collective action to tackle these issues.
“Our people have lost their homes, livelihood, lives and property. Parts of this country are in the hands of different warlords, and state governors are incapacitated and unable to secure their states from the insurgents and the Federal Government also seems to be overwhelmed,” he said.
The Anglican cleric also expressed concern about Nigeria’s debt profile, saying servicing the loans were unsustainable.
“The country’s rising public debt profile remains of great concern as about 95 per cent of our revenue goes to debt-servicing. This is unsustainable. In addition, it greatly limits expenditures for other critical sectors of the economy, thus hampering growth and development.”
Ndukaba cautioned against further borrowings and said funds borrowed must not be allowed to end up in individual or party purses for campaigns.
“We strongly caution against further borrowing and urge the government to hearken to advice to seek for alternative, more viable and efficient infrastructure-financing sources to ease our expenditure burden.”
He challenged the government to show greater political will towards rehabilitating the country’s moribund refineries to reduce local cost of petrol, diesel and kerosene.
He said the intervention would stop the importation of petroleum products and the drain on foreign reserves.
He also called for sustained policing of borders to prevent non-Nigerians from infiltrating the country and influencing the 2023 elections.
He urged eligible Nigerians to be involved in the political process of the nation, saying politics is a God-given process aimed at providing order to the world and society.
The synod which began on Thursday, ended yesterday.