By Odowgu Emeka Odogwu
The Anglican Church, Nigeria, has apparently, on the heels of the daily reports of official corruption in the country raised an alarm over what she described as the catastrophic consequences of the development on both the nation’s international image and her economy.
The church said that the negative impact of official corruption on the nation had assumed enarmous embarrassing dimension and therefore very unacceptable.
The Bishop on the Niger, Anambra State, the Rt Rev. Dr Owen Nwokolo, expressed the worries in the Presidential Address he delivered at the 3rd Session of the 32nd Synod of the diocese holding at St Christopher’s Anglican Church, Odakpu, Onitsha.
He explained the degree of harm which he said official corruption had caused the reputation of the nation at the global level and its damaging effects on the country’s economy.
According to the bishop, “Without mincing words, this Synod utterly condemns the infamous culture of public corruption which is partly responsible for our present economic woes and, in deed, why Nigerians are ridiculed abroad.
“The daily stories of arrests by EFCC of public officers for embezzling billions of Naira without corresponding punishment on offenders not only adversely affect the image of the country but also slow down our social and economic development drastically as well as diminish public confidence placed on public office holders.
“We therefore call on local, state, federal governments and law enforcement agencies to intensify efforts towards stemming the present tide of public corruption in the country”, Bishop Nwokolo pleaded.
He however commended the Governor of Anambra State Prof. Charles Soludo, for what he called invaluable development work the governor had embarked upon in various communities in the state.
Awarding pass mark for the governor’s work in the state, the bishop remarked, “The roads, electricity and water projects are not only of high quality but are initiated at the nick of time”
He equally appreciated the ways he said the governor was managing the security situation in the state but entreated him to intensify efforts to drive out all bandits and terrorists from every part of the state.
