Governor Udom Emmanuel has lamented that it now took up to 20 times the effort it normally took to woo investors into Nigeria.
He was speaking on Friday at Qua Iboe Church, 2 Abak Road, Uyo, where he attended a special Good Friday service, to commemorate the crucifixion of Jesus Christ.
During the service, the Governor tasked the Church to rise to the divinely ordained responsibilities of helping the government to shape up the society and upholding leaders in prayers.
This is as he urged the church to expand its outreach to affect more lives, so as to ease the work of social control for the government.
He said, “It is the church that should help the government shape up the society, because that is the great commission that God gave the church.
“Once the church is able to shape the society the work of government will be easy”.
Decrying the poor state of affairs in the country, Governor Emmanuel said from his experience in going about to woo investors, it now takes 20 times the effort it took to bring an investor into the country compared to what it used to be, adding that the country was in such a critical situation that requires all, including the church, to play a role towards fixing it.
“The primary responsibility God gave to the church is to pray for leaders. We are at a very critical stage in this country. It’s not a time to say nothing concerns me. It concerns everybody including the church.”
He, however, acknowledged the support the state has enjoyed from the church within the period of his administration and thanked God that Akwa Ibom was evidently faring better in terms of development projects.
