.Advocates competence in leadership recruitment
By Valentine Amanze, Online Editor
The Anambra State ex-governor and Vice Presidential candidate of the People’s Democratic Party (PDp) in the 2019 general elections, Mr. Peter Obi, has wished Nigerians a more productive year come 2021.
He assured that the painful stories and challenges of 2020 would be conquered in 2021 with devotion and hardwork.
In his New Year message, Obi said that going by socio-economic review of economic indices all over the world, the year 2021 would be challenging globally, considering that the world was still recovering from the harsh economic realities resulting from the coronavirus pandemic and especially for Nigeria which has suffered from years of mismanagement of resources, that ended up aggravating the current economic recession.
His words: “Nigeria found itself in many unpleasant positions in the year 2020. Nigeria overtook India as the country with highest under five mortality rates.
“Nigeria now has the highest prevalence of drug abuse in the world. We were named the most stressful country in the world, with a life expectancy ratio of 55 years.
“Nigeria is, today, ranked the most terrorised country in Africa and third in the world.
“A recent International Monetary Fund (IMF) report shows that Nigeria’s economy will shrink further by 4.3 per cent, pushing over 11 million more Nigerians into poverty. This, when added to the already 98 million people living in poverty in Nigeria, will leave more than half of the population living in poverty, a dangerous situation for any nation.”
Obi said that Nigerians must see the year 2021 as a year of correcting the mistakes of the past and contributing to build a better nation.
The former governor however appealed to those in authority to see the challenges nations are facing as an opportunity to approach governance from entirely different perspectives, which, according to him, should include drastic cut in the cost of governance to save money for infrastructural development.
He also called on the leaders to apply high discipline in governance, especially with respect to public finances, saying that if public funds are well used for national development, Nigeria’s economy will surely turn around for good.
He also urged Nigerians to embrace innovation and entrepreneurship in 2021, arguing that the future would be driven by such.
He warned that over-dependence of the people, especially youths, on government was not good for the nation, stressing that Nigerians, through innovation and entrepreneurship, could drive Nigeria’s economy high, reducing unemployment and generating more revenue for the government.
Meanwhile, the Vice Presidential candidate of the PDP, Mr. Peter Obi, has urged Nigerians to shun ethnic, tribal and religious sentiments, and focus on competence and credibility, when electing leaders into public offices, saying that the country has continued to suffer under poor leadership.
Obi, Who spoke in Awka, pointed out that it would be deceitful to tell Nigerians that the country was getting better.
He said that the underlying severe economic conditions in the country aggravated the negative economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic on the nation, leaving the country in a severe economic recession.
Obi lamented that the year 2020 has been very challenging for Nigeria, with the nation taking the centre stage and being on the global news for the wrong reasons.
He said, “A recent World Bank report shows that, unless some urgent measures are taken, Nigeria’s economy will shrink further, pushing over 11 million people into poverty. If the 11 million people join the already existing 98 million Nigerians living in poverty, then well over 50% of the country would have been in poverty, a very catastrophic situation for the nation. What is more worrisome is that the majority of these people living in poverty are youths in their productive ages.
“The massive army of out-of-school children, the great number of unemployed graduates, the high prevalence of drug abuse among the youth, the worrisome level of insecurity and corruption in the country, the unbearable level of daily stress among Nigerians and other unpleasant reports emanating from the nation calls for serious worry among Nigerians”.
He expressed confidence that the country would be turned around for good if Nigerians decide to elect competent leaders who, not only understand the workings of the economy and how to steer the nation to economic progress, but have integrity and proven records of financial prudence.
He argued that competent leaders can only be elected if Nigerians shun tribal sentiments and religious affiliations and shop for capable hands who can move the nation forward in all levels of government.
“The only reason political leaders continue to find excuses for their failures is because they are not competent. It is incompetence that fuels over-dependence on oil revenues when many productive sectors are left unexplored. Corruption flourishes unfettered because we do not have competent and innovative leaders across different levels of government. If we can recruit capable hands into our public offices, our nation will be set on a path of economic growth and integrated development”, Obi said.
