Cleric wants community to invest in Nigeria to enhance development

iyebiye olawuyi

September 26, 2017 3:48 PM

Eshiowu who currently serves in one of the Catholic churches in Pennsylvania, the United States of America.

A Catholic cleric, Rev. Fr. Evaristus Eshiowu, has advised Nigerians in the Diaspora to consider investing in their country to fast-track the development Nigerians are yawning for.

Eshiowu who currently serves in one of the Catholic churches in Pennsylvania, the United States of America, said that only Nigerians could genuinely develop their country.

The religious leader told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) that if Nigerians should begin to invest in their country, that would encourage many foreign investors to follow suit.

Eshiowu said this after the presentation of his book, “Integrity Campaign, Antidote to Corruption” at the Artiste’s Village, Iganmu in Lagos State.

“But if Nigerians in the Diaspora continue to run away from investing in Nigeria, it will be difficult for the government to woo foreign investors into investing their funds in Nigeria."

“ If you run away from your home, you will still come back one day,’’ he said.

He said that his book’s focus was to encourage Nigerians abroad to uphold integrity in whatever they were doing rather than pursuing corrupt tendencies.

It was also to encourage Nigerians to invest in their country rather than continually being emigrants abroad where they were developing through their sky scrapers.

The cleric said that Nigerians were emigrants in foreign land, and they would one day eventually abandon their structures abroad for the citizens of their host countries to inherit.

The priest also advised Nigerians in the Diaspora to make integrity their watchword while acquiring their wealth in foreign land.

He said that was the only way they could combat corruption and other vices back home.

Eshiowu also advised the media to always celebrate people who had exhibited patriotic values and integrity and had impacted positively on the society.

The media should stop projecting people suspected to have been involved in criminal activities and were corrupt.

According to him, the media has an important role to play in either making or destroying a nation by the news stories they published or transmitted to the outside world.

“The media should concentrate more on celebrating those who make positive impacts on the society, and reduce how they publicise criminals and others involved in corrupt practices.

“ Through that, the criminals will stop feeling important or seeing themselves as stars.

“Once they are paraded, stories about them should be given less prominence,” he said.

The cleric also appealed to rulers to promote integrity in their style of governance.

“Integrity succeeds integrity, patriotism is venerated, while patriots should be honoured, the greatness of a country depends on the number of people with diligence and integrity,” he said.

iyebiye olawuyi

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