Akinola seeks probe of Works ministry
CONN/570905
Onitsha, Sept. 13, 2005- Primate of All Nigeria, the Most Rev Peter Akinola has called for the probing of the Federal ministry of works, to determine the accuracy of spurious claims being made by it on road construction in the country.
Addressing delegates on Monday in Onitsha at the formal opening session of the 8th General synod of the Church of Nigeria, Akinola said the deplorable state of road networks in the country demands urgent and decisive action.
He described the state of the roads as an embarrassment, which had resulted in the loss of many lives.
He listed the roads that have become harbingers of death to include the Gombe-Numan Yola, Port-Harcourt via Owerri, Abuja to Kano and Zaria to Sokoto.
Others are Abuja to Benin, Onitsha to Port Harcourt via Owerri; Enugu to Makurdi and Warri to Ughelli via Patani.
The Primate stated that he was speaking from experience having traveled the length and breadth of the country by road, during his pastoral visits to the dioceses in the Church.
He however singled out the Benin-Onitsha road as being state that ‘we all can be proud of’, but added that the same could not be said of the Sango-Ota- Abeokuta road.
“The Sango-Ota, Abeokuta road requires a special mention in the sense that the less than 100km road has been under construction for over 5 years with no visible completion and commissioning date in sight,” he said.
The Anglican Cleric then sounded a note of warning: “We would remind all those who have misappropriated or stolen the money meant for putting these roads in shape that they have human blood on their hands.”
Speaking on the immunity clause being enjoyed by some political office holders, Akinola, who is also President of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) called for the removal of the clause from the constitution.
Maintaining that public officers have abused the clause, he urged members of the civil society to support the campaign for the removal of the immunity clause.
The CAN President also used the occasion of his address to conference delegates attending the triennial meeting of the Church to reiterate the stance of the Christian community on the forthcoming National census.
“It is important that we have accurate results and a comprehensive analysis to support our plans for the future. Therefore we question the proposed exclusion of ethnic and religious data from the census since this will reduce the value of the analysis, he said.”
Akinola added: “We have all heard a number of spurious claims surrounding these sensitive issues - including the religious and ethnic data in the census would end these unsubstantiated speculations.”
Responding, Governor Chris Ngige of Anambra State revealed that for the last 15 years the Federal government roads in Anambra state have not received any attention.
“ Since the inception of the present administration in 1999 only one Federal government road of 26 kilometers have been done in the State”, he said, adding, that the state government under his administration had tried to embark on construction and maintenance of roads to alleviate the plight of the people.
The Governor implored the Church Leaders to continue to uphold the nation in supplication to God, as that may seem the only panacea to the myriad of problems plaguing the country.
He commended the Church leadership for deeming it fit to host the triennial meeting in Onitsha, the commercial city of Anambra State
