Engage youths more productively, Bishop Ajiboye tells Buhari

Bishop of the Methodist Church Nigeria (MCN), Diocese of Agodi, Ibadan, Right Reverend (Dr) Amos Ajiboye, has called on the Federal Government to engage youths more productively as a way of discouraging contemporary slave trade represented in human trafficking.

He stated this in his address at the 12th annual synod of the diocese, which had as its theme: Strive for Peace and Holiness, on Friday, at Methodist Church Nigeria, Oke-Ado Circuit, Oke-Ado, Ibadan.

Lamenting the state of insurgency, level of unemployment/poor remuneration, as well as what he described as “protection of financial criminals and protracted fraud cases,” he called for urgent measures to address the issues on ground and for the government to ensure improved standards of living for the people.

He said: “It is greatly disheartening that our young people, out of frustration, resulted to irregular migration to seek for means of livelihood. They were later conscripted into a slave market in Libya, where some of them were sold as cheap as 200USD. This modern slavery would not have been if previous administrations had taken youth development seriously, ad the present administration harps more seriously on enforcing our rules and engaging the teeming population of our youths more productively.”

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Speaking on herdsmen’s attacks, which he said was affecting the nation’s unity, he called for urgent steps to address unemployment and poor remuneration, which he described as a national embarrassment and shame.

He urged government at all levels to “decisively tackle this avoidable situation.”

In his address at the synod, the diocesan lay president of Diocese of Agodi, Engr Alfred Adegbite Aina, called for concerted efforts by the church to contribute to development and endeavour to be more active in evangelism.

Speaking on the state of the nation, he called on the church to do what it could to reduce crime rate and help the poor, stating that “our spiritual leaders must give us a plan of action. They should do this as a matter of urgent requirement for the survival of our faith”

Also present at the synod were Prelate Emeritus of the MCN, Most Reverend Sunday Makinde; Bishops of Ikorodu and Ogbomoso, former Chief Justice of Oyo State, Mrs Badejoko Adeniji, among others.