The Anglican Church Nigeria has condemned the Abia state governor Alex Otti over the massive layoff of civil servants.
Advising the governor to implement his campaign promises and revisit the layoff of workers, the church, however, explained that it does not support the last-minute mass employment made by the outgone administration in the state.
The was contained in a communiqué issued after the 3rd session of its 17th Synod in Aba, signed by the Bishop of Aba Diocese, Anglican Communion, Rt. Reverend Christian Ugwuzo and the clerical synod secretary, Venerable Innocent Ogbonna.
The church urged the state government to explore opportunities for development in areas like building modular refineries in oil-producing regions, establishing air and sea ports, promoting tourism and local industrialization to boost the economy, creating employment opportunities, and generally improving the lives of residents.
The communiqué read: “The Synod frowns at the massive layoff of civil servants within the state, which worsens the hardship in the society and fuels all vices associated with unemployment.
“While not applauding the last-minute mass employment by outgoing administrations, the Synod, however, urges the government to revisit this decision.
“The Synod urges the present government in Abia State to explore opportunities for development in such areas as building modular refineries in oil-producing areas of the state, establishing air and sea ports, promoting tourism and local industrialization in order to boost the economy, create employment opportunities and generally improve the lives of Abians and other residents.”
The church also lamented that the dire state of most roads in Aba has adversely affected businesses, increased hardship, health hazards, and insecurity in the city and urged the federal and state governments to declare a state of emergency on roads in Aba.
It also stated: “Given the station of Aba as an outstanding commercial nerve centre in the South East, the protracted dilapidation of most roads in the city strangulates business life, increases hardship in the land, stalls development, exposes the citizens to untold health hazards and scares away industrialists thus occasioning unemployment, armed robbery and all manner of insecurity in the town and its environs.
“The Synod, therefore, calls on all tiers of government to urgently declare a state of emergency on the road network in Abia, especially Port Harcourt, Ohanku, Obohia, and other roads in Aba and its environs.”
