Poverty level will continue to increase in Nigeria until the government deems it fit to reduce the cost of governance and ensure cash flow for development, a clergyman has said.
The Vicar of St. Stephen Anglican Church, Otuoke, in Ogbia Local Government Area of Bayelsa State, Rev. Tamunotari Obaze, made the submission in an interview with our correspondent on Monday evening shortly after an event tagged, “Bishop Episcopal Visit.”
Obaze observed that government had over the years spent outrageous amount of money to run political institutions and pay elected and appointed office holders jumbo salaries.
The cleric noted that the war against poverty was at variance with the high cost of administration, urging the government to evolve modalities of scaling down the salaries of political office holders.
He asserted that the excess cash squandered on servicing government institutions should be invested providing basic amenities and jobs for the teeming unemployed graduates.
Arguing that the ongoing jumbo pay of political office holders had aggravated poverty, the priest wondered how a country fighting poverty would afford to spend huge resources on persons running the government.
He said, “The cost of governance in Nigeria is outrageous. The huge funds being expended on running democratic system of governance can be utilised to create industries that could provide jobs for the citizenry.”
He postulated that the high cost of governance had created an imbalance in the society ensuring some categories of people had become slaves in their country while others live in affluence.
He observed that despite the abundant resources, which he said, were capable of guaranteeing decent and comfortable living, the majority of Nigerians were languishing in hardship owing to the excessive take-home pay of certain categories of government workers.
He said there was an urgent need for the government to refocus and direct its attention to implementing policies and programmes that would provide succour for the masses.
Continued here:
Cost of governance fuels poverty in Nigeria – Cleric