By Olayinka Latona
The Spiritual Head, of The Mount Shiloh Praying Band of the Holy Cherubim & Seraphim, (INC.), His Grace, Henry Philips has urged federal government to be sensitive to the plight of poor Nigerians.
the cleric made the appeal during the church 61st Adult Harvest Thanksgiving & Ordination service tagged: ‘Champoins of Champions’ held at the church headquarters in Mushin, Lagos.
Commenting on increases made in taxes, electricity tariff and deregulation of downstream sector in the petroleum industry, Philips said the resulting hike in foodstuffs and cost of living, makes life unbearable for the poor.
He said: “In my opinion, this is not the right time for the government to increase the electricity tarriff or remove fuel subsidy. Lot of Nigerians are jobless, companies reduced their labour force, salary is being reduced. If the government really loves us, they would have wait for a year or two. I know it is very important for government to remove fuel subsidy but this is not right time.
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“What we need in this trying time is appeal from the President and not him telling the nation he will still increase prices. Let people who are leaders rise up and stand for the poor, then let those who are in government fight for everybody.”
On the Nigeria 60th independent anniversary, Baba Aladura asked Nigerians to always be grateful to God that we are still one despite all challenges.
In his words: “I give Glory to God that Nigeria is still one entity 60 years after independence. However, is like a 60 year old man just learning how to crawl. This shows that we are not where we ought to be as a nation. Our leaders should please hear the cry of Nigerians and begin to put things in place that will make life easy for Nigerians”.
