The Prelate of the Methodist Church of Nigeria, Dr. Samuel Uche, has called on the Federal Government to save the nation from unemployment by embarking on policies that will strengthen the manufacturing and agricultural sectors.

He also said that only a complete ideological rebirth could take Nigeria to its promise land.

This was contained in his message to commemorate the nation’s 54th Independence Day anniversary.

The clergy, who identified democratic governance as the nation’s greatest achievement since it gained independence, lamented the country’s inability to take advantage of its vast human and natural resources for development.

He said, “This is the time for us to have a rethink and recreate ourselves. We certainly cannot continue on this path. There must be a renaissance capable of transforming our economy and socio-political life. Our economy must be more growth-oriented, robust and market-driven targeted at creating jobs, empowering the middle class and providing infrastructural support for entrepreneurs and investors especially the much-needed Foreign Direct Investments.

“There must be deliberate policies that will transform the agricultural sector, a sector that has the capacity to generate huge employment numbers and turn us into a major exporting nation and also aid economic growth. The power sector must function at optimum capacity because many businesses are obviously dependent on the availability of power, while the oil and gas sector must be reorganised, restructured and made more accountable.”

Uche also listed poverty, poor quality of education, collapse of the manufacturing sector, religious crisis, and unemployment as some of the problems confronting the nation.