“Mr President, Do Something, Hunger Is Wiping US Out” – Bishop Okorafor To Tinubu

By Charles Igbo

The Bishop of Egbu Diocese, (Anglican Communion), His Lordship, The Rt. Rev. Geoffrey Enyinnaya Okorafor, has lamented the unprecedented poverty in the land which has led to excruciating hunger and suffering.

Exasperated that at 64 years, Nigeria still “wears pampers”, the Bishop called on President Bola Tinubu to identify with patriots to fix Nigeria. “There are still patriotic Nigerians. It is no longer about slogans on radios, televisions, or newspapers which fizzle out as  soon as they are jingled”, the Bishop advised President Tinubu.

Bishop Okorafor noted these in his Presidential Address/Charge at the Second Session of the 10th Synod of Egbu Diocese which held at St. Mary’s Anglican Church, Umuokoro Eziama, North Okpala Local Government Area, Imo State.

The Synod, with the very apt theme, Can these bones live? (Ezekiel 37:31), God of impossiibilities in our hopelessness, attracted hundreds of the faithful, politicians, Government officials, scores of members of the Clergy (retired and serving), as well as members of the public, especially those seeking solace in the words of the Lord during these very difficult times.

The Bishop noted how difficult it is  for anybody to explain the terrible hunger in the land.

His words: “How can one explain a situation where families can no longer feed even on a meal daily. It cuts across the entire nation.” His advice to President Bola Tinubu: Do something. Don’t wait  until hunger wipes people out.

Bishop Okorafor:

“Mr President, under your watch, Nigeria is in a state of unprecedented suffering, never ever witnessed even during the civil war. Would you wait until hunger kills your subjects whom you are expected to protect?”

The Bishop also saw no impact from the removal of fuel subsidy since May. He insisted that it has done more harm than good.

And looking at, almost, all aspects of Nigeria, he gave a damning verdict: Nothing is working.

The Bishop:  “Elections are marred with all manner of fraud and irregularities. It has become part of our system. Infrastructural decay, fallen standard of education, continued strike which linger from one department to another.  The list is endless.”

Even then, Bishop Okorafor was not done yet. He continued: “Tribal and ethnic wars. Peace has eluded Nigeria. Killing as a result of insecurity, banditry, kidnapping. Unfortunately, the slogan to every evil that is supposed to be condemned and corrected is referred to as the Nigerian factor.

“Shall we continue to reel out the catalogue of losses of lives in our hospitals which should have been saved if little carefulness were applied?

“Patients are only alive by divine grace. Medical personnel at all levels now watch their patients die in their numbers in their hospitals either because of non availability of the supposed drugs, or the failure of the patients family to meet with the financial involvements as demanded by the hospital’s management.”

On the sad petrol tanker explosion that claimed hundreds of lives recently, Bishop Okorafor blamed it on the Government and hunger in the land.

The Bishop: “One of the reasons why people take unwholesome risks is frustration. How can one explain why innocent lives would be lost untimely through petrol tanker explosion? Are they not conscious of the danger inherent in it in the event of an ensuing outbreak? They engage in scooping the petrol so as to make money out of it because of frustration due to poverty. The end result turns into an unimaginable death toll in most cases. Those lives would not have been lost if things were in a proper perspective.”

He, then, zeroed in on the death and exit of companies from Nigeria: Said he: “May we ask what has become of the following? Nigeria Airways, Peugeot Assembly Nigeria (PAN), BATA Nigeria Limited, J. Allens, Manilla Company, R.T. Briscoe etc, British Overseas Airways Corporation (BOAC) gave way for Nigeria Airways after independence.  Most of the agencies and corporations Nigeria had in the seventies and eighties have all been lost.

“Agriculture was the main stay of the Nigerian economy. We have lost the main stay of our economy which made us a toast of the outside world. Malaysia came to the Eastern Region of Nigeria to pick palm fruits and developed their palm produce. Today, Malaysia is the largest producer of that product. Our cocoa in the West and groundnut in the North are now history.

“Our fathers have eaten unripe fruits and their teeth are set on edge. This is unfortunate.”

The Synod which was a combination of spiritual and intellectual harvest, began on Thursday, October 31,  and ended on Sunday, November 3, 2024.