The Enugu Ecclesiastical Province of the Anglican communion has rejected the federal government’s proposal to completely withdraw the fuel subsidy and pay 40 million Nigerians N5,000 palliative each.
The Church said that the government proposal was a disgrace to the sensibilities of Nigerians and asked President Muhammadu Buhari to withdraw the idea.
The church also said that the value of Naira has become more or less useless with hyperinflation, noting that even the federal government’s introduction of e-naira cannot save the devalued currency.
Archbishop of the Enugu Province, His Grace Most Rev. Dr Emmanuel Chukwuma made the remarks in a press briefing marking 50 years anniversary of the creation of the Enugu Diocese from the Diocese in the Niger in 1970, which has now metamorphosed into 12 Diocese, including the many Anglican Diocese in Ebonyi and Enugu states.
Bishop Chukwuma said that the outbreak of Coronavirus could not allow the Province to mark the 50 years of its creation last year, noting that the province has continued to grow in spiritual upliftment and infrastructural development.
Chukwuma disclosed that the two days anniversary scheduled for January 4th and 5th will feature the commissioning of the Church’s newly built Diagonistic centre to assist in providing affordable healthcare, among other events.
“The Enugu Archdiocese is out for pragmatic evangelism, care for the less privileged and ecumenism in the hinterlands. We are concerned about Nigeria’s peace, unity and infrastructural development.
“The Church is in partnership with government and is disposed to make positive changes in the political arena. In this 50 years, we are calling on the government to be sensitive to the issues of banditry, killings and kidnappings going on in the country,” Chukwuma said.
He also urged the state governments to return the Anglican schools that were taken over by the government in the manner it returned the mission schools to the Catholic Church in states like Enugu.
