Governor Udom Emmanuel of Akwa Ibom State has said that the country’s numerous challenges can be surmountable if good leaders are elected as Nigeria goes into a general election next year.
Emmanuel, who spoke while declaring open a national conference organised by the Forum of former Deputy Governors on the theme ‘Nation Building In Challenging Times,’ said the country’s challenges were not insurmountable.
“Issues confronting Nigeria would change if a new leader emerges in 2023 to address the challenges with both economic and political will.
“We must understand that we are in a very challenging time and must have leaders that will take the nation out of the challenges.
“A situation where some countries deny visa to Nigerians is very challenging to Nigeria’s status as a nation,” he said.
The governor explained that the solution to myriads of challenges facing the nation is to know the right leaders to lead the people.
He urged past Deputy Governors across the nation to be members of the forum to serve as a voice and a pressure group in contributing to addressing the country’s socio-political challenges.
The governor, who noted that the conference of former Deputy Governors was exceptional, said they could participate in the development of the country by bringing their wealth of experience to bear on the issue of governance and hoped that something tangible “will come out after the conference.”
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The Chairman of the conference and former Attorney General of the federation, Kanu Agabi (SAN), commended former Deputy Governors of Nigeria for taking a step towards addressing the problems confronting the nation.
He noted that in spite of injustice and violence and other challenges facing the nation, Nigeria will remain a united states of Africa.
“The consolation to challenges in Nigeria is that good men and women like the former Deputy Governors have never stopped endeavouring to find solutions to the problems of our country,” he said.
He cited other countries including Iran, Liberia, Soviet Union after the fall of communism, Rwanda and Sudan which witnessed civil wars after a dictatorship and disintegrated, adding that Nigeria will never fall into such war.
The former Minister of Justice urged Nigerians to move forward with hope, saying that coming together as former Deputy Governors from different states of the federation was a good step forward towards making Nigeria great again.
In a paper presentation titled ‘Fast Tracking Socio-Economic Development In Nigeria: Are There Proactive Measures?’ an Economist and former Vice Chancellor of the University of Uyo, Akpan Ekpo argued that the poor performance of the economy overtime has resulted in a lack of cohesion in Nigeria.
“Hard economic times partly lead to the loss of confidence and trust in government by the citizens. This affects nation building, especially in Nigeria where more often allegiance is to one’s tribe, state and local government,” he said.
He maintained that such disposition endangers national unity, adding that tribes and sentiments must die in the course of nation-building.
He suggested that “leadership should devolve economic powers to the lower levels of government,” adding that it “should’ve involved the redistribution and consolidation of fiscal resources which would allow for competitive federalism among the sub-national governments.”
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