Kebbi State Governor, Atiku Bagudu, said on Monday that the multi-faceted challenges facing Nigeria were not enough reasons for citizens to despair or lose faith in the country.
Bagudu, alongside others including his Borno State counterpart, Prof. Babagana Umara Zulum, spoke in Ado Ekiti during an international valedictory conference in honour of outgoing Ekiti State Governor, Kayode Fayemi, titled, “JKF: A journey in leadership.”
Speaking on the nation’s indebtedness, Bagudu said, “Even great nations, who are even more economically advanced than Nigeria are more indebted than Nigeria. What we need now are investments through global partnerships for our over 200million population, to build our economy and build our people”.
Bagudu lauded the outgoing Ekiti State governor, whom he described as one dependable leader every zone of the country trusted, for building trust between himself and Ekiti people through good governance that touched every sector of the economy, making Ekiti a microcosm of development despite the paucity of funds.
He, however, advised the incoming governor, Biodun Oyebanji, to rejig governance in Ekiti by consolidating the gains already brought by Fayemi, saying, “Continuity in governance is key and germane to economic development. I charge the incoming governor, Oyebanji, to build on the legacies of his predecessor. Sustainability in governance is an essential ingredient of democracy”.
The Borno State Governor, Zulum, urged Oyebanji to focus on the infrastructural deficit in roads and other public utilities, noting that, “Every serious-minded government today in Nigeria must focus attention on poverty reduction, infrastructural deficit and the emerging climate change to curb incidences of natural disasters.
A professor of Africana Studies, University of Pennsylvania, USA, Dr Adewale Adebamwi, in his lecture entitled: ‘A scholar in power: Reflections on power, democracy and the future of Nigeria’, harped on the need for the current weak Nigerian system to be rejigged and strengthened.
