Independence Message: Buhari'll tackle economic challenges - Osinbajo

26-09-2016 

Vice President Yemi Os­inbajo, on Sunday as­sured Nigerians that President Muhammadu Buhari would lead the country out of the current economic recession and onto the “Promised Land flowing with milk and honey.”

He spoke as a special guest at the Interdenominational Church Service organised by the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) at the Nation­al Ecumenical Centre, Abuja to mark Nigeria’s 56th Independ­ence celebration at the week­end.

Osinbajo urged Nigeri­ans to exercise patience with the present administration which means well for the citi­zens, stressing that they should be strong and of good faith as everyone will benefit from the good things to come.

According to him: “The promise of God to our nation is that we build a new Nigeria; a new country where there will be peace from the North East to the Niger Delta. A Nigeria where our economy will expe­rience abundance and prosper­ity, where there will be jobs for the jobless.

“A Nigeria where there will be honest and committed lead­ership, where Christians, Mus­lims and men of different faith, men and women from eve­ry state will live and work to­gether in peace and harmony.

“The promise is that we are on our way out of the wilder­ness to this land flowing with milk and honey. As Christians, we have a duty to bring to pass the will of God for our nation.

Recalling the situation of the Israelites who grumbled for lack of faith in God, the Vice President said Nigerians must have faith in the present administration.

He said: “The Lord God Al­mighty saw our nation when He decided that He was go­ing to put the leadership that is now in place. This leadership will take us across the Red Sea and this leadership will take us to a new Nigeria.”

Delivering the homily for the event, the President of CAN, Rev. Samson Supo Ayokunle, said Nigerian lead­ers need divine revelation and wisdom from God to handle the economy.

According to him, the wis­dom of God will prevail over the economic recession in the country, but lamented that de­spite the huge resources in the country, it still finds itself in re­cession.

One of the causes of the re­cession, he said, was Nigeria’s inability to save during the rainy days, noting that “they were siphoning the resources for their pockets. We got into this also because of our inabil­ity to diversify. We killed our agriculture for oil.

“We are all responsible for the self-imposed trouble. There is hope and help will come from above for Nigeria. There is a way out in the mind of God if we seek Him,” he said.

As a way out of the reces­sion, he said that the govern­ment should go beyond party affiliations as the solutions are not limited to the members of the Federal Executive Council (FEC).

Prayers were also offered for the legislature and the judi­ciary, peace and development of the country and the unity of the church.

Dignitaries at the occasion included former Vice Presi­dent, Dr Alex Ekwueme, the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Ba­bachir David Lawal, wife of the Vice President, Dolapo Osin­bajo, Bayelsa State Governor Seriake Dickson and Senator Olorunibe Mamora.