THE Presiding Pastor of Sanctuary of Christ Evangelical Church, Ibadan, Pastor (Prof.) Gbade Ojo has condemned the Japa Syndrome through which youths are leaving Nigeria in droves for greener pastures, saying it is not good for the image of the country.
Ojo, who stated this at the 25th anniversary of the church in Ibadan on Sunday, described the Japa phenomenon as a modern-day slavery of Nigerian youths in foreign lands.
He also decried the challenges of food security, inflation, and the parlous state of insecurity in the country, saying that all these have further compounded the problems confronting the citizens.
“Tied to the problem of food security and inflation is the parlous state of insecurity. Many idle hands have been pushed to the wall by venturing into crime and immorality for survival without minding the consequences.
“These able-bodied young ones take to modern-day slavery voluntarily in foreign lands in the face of inclement weather and maltreatment occasioned by lack of meaningful citizen diplomacy on the part of our government,” he said.
The cleric viewed the current state of unemployment and under-employment among the teeming young, educated youths as unfortunate.
“The data from the Federal Bureau of Statistics is far from being cheery. Many graduates with skills in different disciplines, including professionals, have been roaming the street for the one decade, with no hope of redemption.
“It is amazing that banks are making bumper profits in the face of excruciating economic hardship. Their corporate social responsibility should be called to question with the alarming rate of unemployment,” he said.
Ojo, who stated that the state of hunger in the land is condemnable, called on Nigerian leaders to be conscious of the fact that the ongoing starvation is precarious to Nigeria’s bid to sustain and eventually consolidate the nascent democracy, adding that hungry citizens might turn out to be an angry mob.
He described the palliatives currently being given to citizens by the federal government as mere cosmetic, with no impact in terms of alleviating their sufferings, adding that the poor that the government claims to be protecting with subsidy removal cannot breathe anymore.
The cleric stressed the need for governors to take responsibility for the current nation’s economy by recruiting citizens into critical sectors such as health, education, and agriculture.
“Local governments too should not be exempted. They have no reason not to do this with their monthly allocations that increased tremendously in the last year as a result of the withdrawal of fuel subsidy,” he said.
Ojo, a professor of Political Science at the University of Ilorin, urged the government to quickly resolve the issue of a new minimum wage with labour, as the system has been pauperizing Nigerians, especially with the daily rise in their expenditure owing to the high rate of inflation.
He also called for the payment of outstanding salaries of members of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) to avert the looming industrial action by university lecturers.
The cleric, who noted that the country is currently sitting on a keg of gunpowder, called for restructuring in terms of fiscal arrangement that is robbing Peter to pay Paul to avert the former USSR experience.
The highlight of the event was the ordination of some pastors, deacons, and deaconesses in the church.
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