Bishop Joseph Ighalo Edoro, his a philanthropist, a man of God who is so passionate and concens about humanities is envious, and one of his slangs says, let’s the tempest rage, let the billows toss high, beloved do not expect the worst to happen to you, instead expect the best and believe that every day will bring good things to you, the word of God says you are an over comer, that settles it. Speaking with Jane osamor, the publisher fabulous international magazine, at a visit in his office on the states of our country Nigeria it’s views.
Good morning sir, let get to meet with you for the public sake?
My name is Bishop Joseph Ighalo Edoro, the overseer of the Touch From Heaven Ministries,
Kindly share your views on what is happening in Nigeria today, the hardship and the labours striking for non compliance of the federal government not given hear to the minimum wage increment?
Okay! That is okay it’s good for the democracy like I said sometimes ago, when you are agitating, agitation are actually the icing on the cake of democracy, freedom of agitation, freedom to say I have a right to be included or inclusivity is vitally of important and that is what we are observing today, the beauty of this one, is that nobody or groups of people fighting or showing anything like violent but the points is being raised and the points is still being made. The labour constrict and constitute and put in the motions their machinery to let the government know that Yes! Indeed of a truth things are not okay, there is indeed needs to put some smiles concerning the money, income and on the minimum wage as we speak its certainty, certainly and certainly is not good enough for families to live by, you say your going to pay 30 or 40 thousand naira as minimum wage and now what about transportation fees and you’re living at Akute or your living at Abu-ile Epa, and your office is at Ikeja, so when you take your transportation fees from there what do you have left? Then when you take feeding from that what do you have left? And when you take medical from that what do you get, if even you make it cumulative and you take your house rent from that, what do you get left and with this some people have children in university and university have increased they tuitions fees and the school have been giving autonomy now by the way of saying fixes your fees, and as the people are actually talking about are the workers that spend their time and everything to make sure Nigeria the wheels does not cry to hurt, there are not actually having a good time, so with the removal of fuel subsidy which of case is genuine, the removal is genuine and with the issue of the removal a lot of administration saw it has an albatross, they don’t want to do it, the removal of the fuel subsidy which the president Bola Ahmed Tinubu, was brave enough, brave enough sincerely to do it, ought to come correspondingly with a cushioning effect, there is everything good about the removal of the fuel subsidy but the only thing that is not good about it, is the fact that he do not take what I always called a slow release principle. And if you do that then you most correspondingly try to cushioning the effects, so that the people can join you. This is where we have that problem from. The workers are really in pain, there are too much penury in the society, the workers cannot assess medical, they can’t assess the market space, a basket of tomatoes usually was N15, N20 thousands, it is now about 100,000 to 200,000 thousand naira for one basket, so how are they going to assess tomatoes, how are they going to assess garii with N40 thousand naira, even with 60 thousand naira, they are talking about, it is still not good enough.
if you are put on the seat of power as the president, and this agitation is on going, what could be the minimum wage has a president, what will you be obliged to pay?
Let me say something there, I am not holding forth for Bola Ahmed Tinubu, a lots comes with governance but it always good for governance to have a human face because you’ll have expect Tinubu, to say okay fine! I have so much workers running into millions in the country, this is my budget and he would have called his administrative office on how they could do this, suppose the president says okay let’s give them N400,000 thousand and then the accounting system of the states of Nigeria is not enough to carry it, I am just try to look at it on that perspective then, what did you expects Tinubu to do at that point but then the human face facial party of it will be looking for other areas, we most do something to make the people happy and if is to go back to the drawing board down to the trenches and make sure that they cut down on other areas, so it is free for us to also look at it, Governance from the out side, we think it’s easy but when you come to the seat of power a lots you will now know, that is why they say uneasy lay a head that wears the crown. I am not holding forth for him, what I just says is the mimimum wage is too small vis-a-vis, contemporary situations and the economy in whole that is workers and citizens of Nigeria going through, however, there are a lot of issues to be looked at, the day he starts seeing it at the angle of human face, he might say okay, national Assembly your salary or expenditure is high let cut down and from other angle by the time he takes from here and there over all, at list something good will come out of it and make the people happier to work and believe in their system and join hands in the fight and crusade in making the country a better places to co-exist.
Sir, what amount do you think should be good as mimimum wage for Nigeria workers at today?
Well, if we look at it and say okay, I will have really say to myself, if government would at list a little bite being sincere and not unfair 400,000, thousand at list , that would solve the problem, but then NO! For 60,000 thousand, if I have the opportunity I will sap and sap from every area where spending is higher and ensure that the workers are being paid 400,000 at list and that wouldn’t solve the problem but then not 60 thousand naira, but don’t forget again governance is cumulative, it’s something you have to keep doing you don’t just look at it perspective of one month, when you work 400,000 thousand for one person your going to work 400,000, for 12 months and your going to work that 400,000 for has many people in all of the states of federation, this is where you see government is saying NO! but for a man who takes the rings of governance and who was elected by the people and says he as the heart of the people he will all so think along this my line, he is going to look at it from the holistic perspective, but people don’t see it that way, on no money dey ! let’s them give us like that, no,no, there is more to governance I understand the pulses of the nation’s, sometimes, please it’s also good for us to understand the pulses of those who are running the wheels of governance, they might have some tendencies that betrays their trust, conference or cut down on all those things and let the people believe you and their will suffer along with you.
Talking about our old national anthem that as now been brought forward as our new national anthem, what is your take or what do you have to say about it?
Bola Ahmed Tinubu, he is a student of machiavelli, he is guru when it comes to leadership, that old national anthem it’s diversionary you understand me, that is number 1, but again I always try to balance my opinions, like I said yesterday in another forum, I said look, the facts that the national Assembly has already assigned to it. It’s the desire of Tinubu and he never hide it, years ago he as said it , if he as his ways he will change to the old national anthem and he as have his way as he wished as the president of the nation Nigeria. We are not saying that he bullied us or we are not in fact that maybe we were bullied, just to accepting it, sometimes we have to let the discretioning powers of our Leaders. Sincerely l preferred the old national anthem that is the one they just remove. But the facts that our president has said so to it, I am saying to everybody move your tents and your camp into the new one,
Nigeria we hall thee
Our own dear native land
Though tribes and tongues may differ
In brotherhood, we stand
Nigerians all, are proud to serve
Our sovereign mother land …
Because that is what the president have said, sometimes respect him and let it be. We are protesting verbally in our different jojo’s, tomorrow he makes his point this is it. I just tell people if you do not stand by it, it’s rebellious because it’s now a law of the nation Nigeria.
