Okoh urges government to prioritise electricity, health, education

Most Rev. Nicholas Okoh, Primate of all Nigeria (Anglican Communion)

The Primate of All Nigeria (Anglican Communion), Most Rev. Nicholas Okoh, has urged the Federal Government to prioritise electricity, health and education in the country.

Okoh, who made the appeal in Abuja, lamented that the graduates from the country’s universities are deficient in learning.

He said the education they acquired has not impacted on the economy. 

The cleric said: “There is no half way of doing engineering or science. There must be equipment for the experiments to be conducted, the basic of which is electricity.

He downplayed the use of generators in running such trainings and urged the Federal Government to tackle the challenge of poor electricity.

Okoh also called for urgent attention in the health sector, while lamenting the huge amount that Nigerians are spending on medical treatment in India.

“We lost ex-President Musa Yar’adua due to poor health facilities and only God intervened in the case of President Muhammadu Buhari. Are these not enough lessons? Why can’t we have a task force to train manpower and bring the necessary facilities to the country?”

He said this was necessary so that not only the senior citizens, but also the ordinary Nigerians could have access to quality medical care.

On the new minimum wage being proposed by the Nigerian labour Congress (NLC), he said: “I don’t personally believe that salaries should be increased in terms of huge money. If you increase money from N18, 000 to N56, 000, it would depreciate in another two years, unless the value of the naira is strengthened against the dollar.

He explained that Ghana did something like that, when they redenominated the value of its Cedis. The good news that the poor people would cherish is that the value of the naira has been increased.”

Okoh, who noted that Boko Haram has done serious havoc in the country, urged the Federal Government to come up with measures that would bring a lasting solution to the menace.

He said: I am not contending against the cost, but the earlier we do away with Boko Haram, the better for us. Can you imagine how much had been spent on insurgency since it started? This year again, we are budgeting 1billion apart from what is in the normal appropriation for the soldiers.