…says ‘it’s the cause of suicide attempts’
From Kayode Fasua
Lagos cleric, Prophet Lai Bamidele, on Saturday urged President Muhammadu Buhari to urgently raise a think-tank of credible economic experts, to
help lead the country out of its present socio-economic crisis.
Bamidele who spoke in Lagos on Saturday (today) on the occasion of his 60th birthday, said rising cases of suicide were clear indications that all is not well with the Nigerian economy.
Recalling how some persons had attempted suicide in Lagos last week, owing to inability to pay up debts or as a result of excruciating hunger, the cleric said such situations spoke volume “that this administration’s economic programmes are failing.”
“Much as we know that anything that will be put right must come with some pains, this kind of pain is too deadly for contemplation. It is more painful because the Buhari administration was elected for four years and it is almost reaching two years without something tangible to point at.
“That people are now committing suicide owing to hunger, joblessness and social neglect is an indictment on whatever economic policy that might have been put in place, and it is now time for the Buhari administration to re-strategise by forming a committee of credible economic experts, who will help lead the country out of these doldrums,” he counselled.
Bamidele, who said churches in the country have been praying for the President’s well-being and quick recovery, advised him “to free himself from members of the cabal in power, so as to deliver the dividends of democracy.”
He also called on the President to re-jig his cabinet so as to do away with some non-performing ministers and aides.
Besides, the man of God deplored government’s approaches to resolving ethno-religious crises in the country, saying it gave the impression “that the Buhari administration is being gourded to act along ethnic lines.
“Of reference is the lopsided arrests of perpetrators of the Ife violence in Osun State and the prevalence of the Fulani herdsmen attacks in the southern part of the country,” he stressed.
The cleric, on the occasion, recalled his travails in the service of God, saying it was only perseverance that had kept him in the vineyard.
Specifically, he said he lost three wives in succession and five children, and that at a time, all his life savings in Kano were lost to ethno-religious crisis.
“But I have been undeterred because I know the devil, having caused those losses, had forgotten that the Lord is faithful. And by the grace of God’s, I have been enjoying divine blessings and increase. To the glory of God, I now have five other glorious children, who are doing well along with my beautiful wife.”
In his remarks, an entrepreneur and chairman of the occasion, Mr. Austin Unoh, described Bamidele as not only a role model in godliness and piety but also a true prophet of God, “who deserves emulation.”