Bishops decry hunger in Imo State

Anglican Bishops in the Owerri Ecclesiastical Province have called on government to, as a matter of urgency, apply public funds properly to reduce poverty in Imo State and the country in general.
Rising from their 29th Regular meeting held at the Cathedral Church of Emmanuel, Mgbidi in Oru Diocese, recently, the bishops expressed sadness that government still spends recklessly and does not pay salaries, pensions and entitlements of workers.

In a communiqué after the meeting, signed by the Archbishop of the province, the Most Rev. Dr. Caleb Maduoma, the bishops viewed as immoral the practice of coercing Imo pensioners to sign away or forfeit a greater percentage of their entitlements and called for immediate halt to the practice.

On what they termed “the resurgence of state religion”, the prelates condemned the springing up of chapels in government establishments across Imo State which boasts of many churches in every community, warning that although religion is a veritable tool in nation building, its misuse can be disastrous.

“One wonders the need for these chapels when council workers do not reside in council premises”, the communiqué stated, adding that it was a waste of funds and might breed religious complicity. The bishops declared that government has no business establishing places of wosdrship.

The council of bishops, however, noted the improved physical development in some of the public schools in Imo State but called for recruitment of qualified teachers as well as government attention to schools in rural areas.

The bishops called for the completion of projects in the state, especially the general hospitals in the 27 local government areas, regretting that many of them looked like abandoned projects and were becoming rendezvous for social miscreants.

(c)Christian voice newspaper