Use subsidy palliative loan on refineries not households, Cleric tells FG

The Cathedral Presbyter and Administrator, Methodist Cathedral Church, Aba, Very Rev Henry Anozie, says the government should use the recent World Bank subsidy palliative loan to revamp refineries instead of sharing it.

Anozie, who spoke to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Aba, Abia, said that revamping refineries will create substantial economic effects that will improve household economy more than sharing the fund would.

He argued that since transportation controls much economic activities in Nigeria, reviving the refineries and reducing the cost of fuel will be more helpful to households than “dashing” them money.

Anozie said that sharing the money to few households will not reduce poverty in the manner that using the loan to make refineries work again would.

Read also: Contrary to FG’s claim, World Bank’s $800m for subsidy palliatives is another loan

“It appears that when our people enter into leadership positions, the devil turns their brains upside down.

“If you continue giving people money to go and eat without them working, the money will soon finish and the person will remain the same and return to his beggar status.

“I think the plan to share the money will not help much. It is a misplaced priority.

“The government should rather revamp the refineries and, through it, engage people in meaningful ventures that will have a chain effect in our economy.

“The government should get people employed because when you get people employed they will fend for themselves and also enjoy the self-esteem of working and earning the money.

“You don’t dash people money to feed. How long can that kind of gesture be sustained,” he queried.

He regretted that the country is becoming a “perpetual debtor” to other nations because the leaders are not placing priorities right.

Anozie said that loans are not meant for feeding people but for developing reliable infrastructure that would sustain the population’s productive endeavours.

He urged the country’s leadership to steer clear of neo-colonialist interests abroad which he said has the tendency to set the country’s progress backwards.