ABAKALIKI— THE Anglican Communion, Abakaliki diocese wants the Federal Government to convene a Sovereign National Conference to afford the people the opportunity of discussing and finding solutions to the Country’s problems.
In a resolution at the end of the 1stt session of its 3rd Synod held at All Saints Anglican Church, Cathedral, Abakaliki, the church said, “There is no doubt that frustration and feelings of dissatisfaction everywhere in the land is responsible for the agitation and clamour for ethnic self determination”.
The Synod regretted that “since 1970, twenty-six years ago the Nigerian Civil War ended, the Igbos have been marginalized, politically frustrated and are made to feel worth less than 3rd class citizens of the country”.
The church said, “The NO VICTOR NO VANQUISHED declared by the Federal Government was not only empty but also unreal. In the whole of the South-East, the Synod could hardly find where motorable road exists”.
The Synod called on the Federal and State Governments to be pragmatic in the rehabilitation of the roads in the area.
The Synod admonished politicians in the country to always play the game according to civilized rules while avoiding blood letting during elections because of their uncontrollable desire to be or remain in the office.
The Synod stated that the violent crime, armed banditry, corruption and youth restiveness prevalent in the country today are traceable to the fact that politicians have assumed the posture of a master rather than of a servant.
The Synod urged politicians to use “the peoples money to enhance their well-being and welfare and to stop flamboyant and ostentatious life style they live”.
The Synod made reference to the last general election and greatly lamented that “voters in Nigeria have lost confidence in the ballot box because of the politicians desperation that prevented what used to be known as election.
On the perennial increase in the pump prices of petroleum products, the Synod advised the Federal Government to urgently effect repairs of local refineries stressing that this will create job opportunities, low cost of the commodity and do away with high cost of the importation of petrol and allied products.
The Synod believed that the current industrial action embarked upon by the Nigerian Labour Congress could be averted if only the government carries the stakeholders along each time it is about to make policies that will affect the ordinary Nigerians.
