The emeritus Archbishop of the Catholic Archdiocese of Lagos, Cardinal Anthony Okogie, has lamented the insecurity in the country, saying the country is becoming a killing field.

Okogie, at his 85th birthday thanksgiving and 50th Episcopal ordination anniversary on Wednesday in Lagos, also said the country was becoming a failed state.

He said, “The words of Psalm 85 form the prayer of a patriot for his afflicted country, a fervent prayer for revival and restoration. It recognises that national restoration is entirely man-made, but given by God. Indeed, what other prayer, but for mercy and restoration is appropriate for our beloved country, Nigeria in this trying time of all forms of depressing occurrences?

“It seems that Nigeria has become a killing field, as insecurity and terror reign from one end to the other, and there seems to be no end in sight at present. A few weeks ago, on the occasion of the sixth anniversary of this administration, given the severity of the status quo of our socio-economic and political situation, it was shocking that the government claimed that the Nigerian people never had it so good.

“It is evident that Nigeria has practically become a failed state; a country fails when it is no longer able to protect its citizens from harm and secure their welfare. A country fails when instead of reassuring its citizens by actions and policies that the future is secured, it becomes a state most people are planning to flee to other climes where their governments are truly functioning.”

Okogie added that the problems of the country had become worse under the current regime of the President,  Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.)

“It is true that our problems did not start under this administration, they seem to have worsened economically and politically in this past six years. Insurgency in the North-East is still ongoing and insecurity has spread nationwide in spite of the military being deployed everywhere.

The avalanche of banditry and kidnapping that have overwhelmed parts of the North-West and North-Central cannot be described. The entire security apparatus often seems clueless or helpless. The situation in some parts of the South-East also lives more to be desired; innocent citizens are being killed, properties are being destroyed, people are no longer safe in the land. Unknown gunmen has become a favourite vocabulary in our mouths,” he said.

The Catholic Archbishop of the Lagos, Bishop Adewale Martins, lauded Okogie for being an inspiration to the younger generations.

“His Eminence has been very concerned about the situation in our country. He built on the foundation that has been there and has made it more solid during his years of governance and we hope that we can continue to build on that foundation. We thank him for the many ways he has been inspiring, encouraging and advising us,” Martins said.

Punch

Inflation is deepening poverty and crippling the economy, experts said yesterday as the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) released its May figure.

Although hardline inflation gained a marginal 0.19 per cent from the April rate, leaving it at 17.93 per cent, the World Bank said additional seven million people have been pushed below the poverty line.

Director-General of the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) Dr Muda Yusuf said: “From month on month perspective, inflation accelerated across all parameters and this underscores the fact that inflation remains a major challenge to investors and citizens.

“Inflation is perhaps the biggest poverty accelerator because of the weakening of purchasing power.

“It weakens real income, erodes purchasing power, puts pressure on operating costs, aggravates production costs, reduces sales and negatively impacts profit margins across sectors.

“Tackling inflation would require fixing these supply-side challenges reining in on fiscal deficit monetisation.”

Yusuf added that the Centra Bank of Nigeria’s financing of deficit, which had grown rapidly in recent years, was highly inflationary because of the profound effect on money supply growth.

He said that the drivers of inflation had remained largely the same and were mainly supply-side issues.

Yusuf noted that these included the security situation, cost of transportation and logistics, energy costs, exchange rate depreciation, illiquidity in the forex market, climate change, among other variables.

“Monetisation of fiscal deficit has lately become an added factor, he added.

The NBS said the composite food index rose by 22.28 per cent in May compared to 22.72 per cent in April, indicating a 0.44 per cent decrease.

The Bureau, however, said there were increases in the prices of bread, cereals, milk, cheese, eggs, fish, soft drinks, coffee, tea and cocoa, fruits, meat, oils/fats and vegetables.

The NBS Consumer Price Index (CPI) report of May said: “On a month-on-month basis, the headline index increased by 1.01 per cent.

“This is 0.04 percentage points higher than the rate recorded in April 2021 (0.97 per cent).

“The consumer price index (CPI), which measures inflation, increased by 17.93 per cent (year-on-year)per cent 2021. This is 0.19 percent points lower than the rate recorded in April 2021 (18.12 per cent).”

It said increases were recorded in all Classification of Individual

Consumption by Purpose (COICOP) divisions that yielded the Headline index.

The urban inflation rate, according to the Bureau, increased by 18.51 per cent (year-on-year) in May from 18.68 per cent recorded in April 2021, while the rural inflation rate increased by 17.36 per cent in May 2021 from 17.57 per cent in April.

On a month-on-month basis, the NBS noted that the urban index rose by 1.04 per cent in May, up by 0.05 per cent points compared to the rate recorded in April 2021 (0.99), while the rural index rose by 0.98 per cent in May, up by 0.03 points compared to the rate that was recorded in April 2021 (0.95 per cent).

It explained that the percentage change in the average composite CPI for the 12 months ending May over the average of the CPI for the previous 12 months period was 15.50 per cent, showing a 0.46 per cent point rise from 15.04 per cent recorded in April 2021.

The NBS said on a month-on-month basis, the food sub-index increased by 1.05 per cent in May, up by 0.06 per cent points from 0.99 per cent recorded in April.

This rise in the food index was caused by increases in prices of bread, cereals, milk, cheese, eggs, fish, soft drinks, coffee, tea and cocoa, fruits, meat, oils and fats and vegetables.

The ‘All items less farm produce’ or Core inflation, which excludes the prices of volatile agricultural produce, stood at 13.15 per cent in May 2021, up by 0.41per cent when compared with12.74 per cent recorded in April.

The latest World Bank Nigeria Development Update (NDU) noted that “in 2020, the Nigerian economy experienced a shallower contraction of -1.8 per cent than had been projected at the beginning of the pandemic (-3.2%).

“Although the economy started to grow again, prices are increasing rapidly, severely impacting Nigerian households,” NDU stated.

The World Bank said the situation has “pushed an estimated seven million Nigerians below the poverty line in 2020 alone”.

It said food prices accounted for over 60 per cent of the total increase in inflation.

The Nation