Vice President, Yemi Osinbajo says Nigeria is witnessing its worst economic challenges in history as a result of COVID-19 pandemic.
The Vice President said this in his message at the 11th Synod of the Church of Nigeria (Anglican Communion), adding that the nation is now earning 40 per cent less than it should because oil prices have fallen and few today can afford to pay taxes.
He said:-
“There was a day in April when oil, our precious oil was selling for less than the cost of production. No one was even willing to buy.
“Suddenly all we took for granted, from air travel to hugs and even handshakes have become neither safe nor advisable.
“The sum and substance of what I am saying is that these past few months have shown us that human ingenuity and planning cannot even assure us that we will live to see the next day.
“Any hopes built on the foundation of human understanding and effort is a shaky and unsure foundation and is bound to fail when the storms and the turbulence come.”
The Vice president, however, said he was hopeful that Nigerians and all people around the world will survive the despair, pain and other consequences associated with the pandemic.
“Everything around us has been shaken and is being shaken by the greatest global threat to mankind in a century.
“We’re in the midst of the greatest economic slump in history; every region of the world is experiencing an unprecedented slowdown in growth.
“It’s my firm belief that by the grace of God, very soon, this pandemic will be defeated,” he said.
