On Monday, presidential candidates of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar and Peter Obi of the Labour Party attended the opening ceremony of the 2022 edition of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) annual general conference in Lagos State.
TheNewsGuru.com (TNG) reports that the 2022 NBA annual general conference, which will run until August 26, is being held with the theme “Bold Transitions” at the Eko Atlantic City.
Speaking at the opening ceremony, the presidential candidate of the Labour Party for the 2023 elections said for Nigeria to come out of the mess it is in, a visionary, articulated and competent leadership is required to start turning things around.
The Labour Party presidential candidate, who received a tumultuous welcome at the opening ceremony of the NBA annual conference, hinged the security challenges of the country on the challenge of unemployment.
Speaking further, Obi said what is worse is the fiscal mess Nigeria is in, stressing that in other to come out of the mess, the 2023 elections should not be about tribe and religion but about voting in competent leaders with the commitment to deliver.
“Out of 200 million Nigerians, 60% is supposed to be working. So, we are supposed to have 120 million Nigerians working, but today, Nigerians that are working are under 50 million. So, 70 something million of Nigerians are not working, they are not productive. When you compare this to your productivity, you will see how low it is.
“But, what is even worse, we are in a fiscal mess, total fiscal mess because of all these. Between January this year and April, the total revenue of the federal government of Nigeria is N1.630 trillion. Then, expenditure, is N4.720 trillion. If you minus this, you will have a deficit of N3.1 trillion. That shows almost 200% is a deficit. And this is the crisis we face.
“How did we come here, it is the accumulation of leadership failure over the years. To come out of this, you need to have a visionary, articulated and competent leadership to start turning around this. The election we are going to have next year, would not be about tribe, no religion, not connection, not entitlement; it must be an election about character, competence, capacity, and commitment to deliver, Obi said.
Speaking in a panel session, the former Anambra State Governor further outlined “important” areas Nigeria must tackle “aggressively” for a greater economy, stressing that investment in intangible assets such as education and power are critical for economic renaissance.
“What we need to do is the two most intangible assets: security; and law and order… provide a conducive environment to attract investors, then education and power. The economy is driven by these intangible assets,” Obi said.
2023: I’m not on trial and error mission – Atiku Abubakar
Meanwhile, in his remarks at the ceremony, Atiku, in what seems to be a reference to the presidential candidate of the Labour Party, boasted that he has actively participated in governance and that his ambition to become the president of Nigeria in 2023 was not a trial and error mission.
The former Vice President, who was also a speaker in the panel session and who disclosed that he will hand over federal universities to state governments if he should emerge president in 2023, said: “I have seen, I have participated, and I have felt well for this country. So I am not on trial and error leadership”.
Speaking on handing over federal universities to state governments, Atiku said: “I had an argument with a university professor from Federal University, Lokoja. He said he read in my policy document that I intended to devolve, in other words, to return education to the states. How dare do I do that?
“I said, ‘Mr Professor, do you realise that the first set of our universities belong to the regional governments?’ He said, ‘Yes’. I said who are the successors of the regional government? He said the states. I said the children you send to America, to England, who own those universities? Mostly the private sector. So, why is it that you think we cannot do it here? We don’t have the money”.
He also disclosed that the only way to tackle the issue of the Nigerian economy is to make sure there is a conducive environment available to both foreign and local investors to participate, stressing whether it is infrastructure, education or power.
TNG, meanwhile, reports that award-winning novelist, Chimamanda Adichie, who gave a keynote address at the event, said Nigerians are starved of heroes and young people have nobody to look up to.