The Catholic Archbishop of Abuja, John Cardinal Onaiyekan, has called on African leaders to discuss the issue of disparities among communities in the ongoing US-African Leaders Summit, in Washington.
Onaiyekan made the call in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria in Abuja on Tuesday.
He said two major issues which should be discussed were on the disparity “we have between us and them and also the quality of leadership of our leaders”.
He said the leaders should deliberate on the extent to which the people should be represented by their leaders and the extent they were ready to fight for the good of the people.
The Chairman of Church and Society Department of Catholic Bishops Conference of Nigeria, Bishop Lucius Ugorji, said the leaders should also discuss the inequality in world trade.
Ugorji, the Bishop of Catholic Diocese of Umuahia, Abia State, said inequality was becoming a serious issue to Nigeria and the leaders should endeavour to deliberate on the issue at the summit.
He said: “When you look at the world’s economy, it is almost as if the poor is getting poorer and the rich is getting richer on account of inequalities in world trade.
“Most of the resources that are tapped from the developing world are turned to the so-called first world, industrialised countries for refining, development and so on and jobs are created in those areas and the costs of raw materials tend to sink.
“I think much should be discussed on the inequalities we have, that much justice be seen in the cost of raw materials, that people who generate this raw materials should also be entitled to this benefits.”
Ugorji said that if possible, some of these industries should be located down the southern hemisphere otherwise there would be migration, which had its challenges on the world economy.
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