By Sunny Anderson Osiebe...
The Deputy President of
the Senate, Senator Ike Ekweremadu, has blamed Nigeria’s economic woes on wrong
federal structure, which he said had predisposed the country to wealth sharing,
indolence, and poor governance since the fall of the First Republic.
He reiterated that
restructuring remained the true and lasting solution to the nation’s many woes,
as it would promote wealth creation, productivity, good governance, and national
development.
He made the assertions at
the investiture of Dr. Omede Idris as the 15th President of the
Association of Professional Bodies of Nigeria, APBN, in Abuja, Thursday night.
Ekweremadu, who said the
investiture ceremony came at a most crucial time in the country’s recent
history, regretted that the Nigerian economy easily lapsed into recession,
while the nation continued to lament over fall in oil price in a
knowledge-driven global economy.
He, therefore, expressed
worries that calls and attempts to re-engineer the nation’s federalism through
restructuring and injection of fiscal federalism had always been unheeded and
unsuccessful.
Hear him: “Instructively,
well-meaning Nigerians, including my humble self, have continued to warn, even
long before now, that our nation is not structured for wealth creation and
economic prosperity, but for wealth sharing and guzzling. Otherwise, there
should have been no reason to continue to lament over the fall in oil price in
a knowledge-driven global economy.
“It is a clear indication
of how much we have thrived on a wrong federal arrangement, thereby wasting our
yesteryears. For too long, we have lived with poor governance, extravagance,
and indolence induced by free money.
“Today, the honeymoon is
over. The country is already neck-deep in economic crisis, the recession bites
even harder, and inflation has escalated. We must wake up to reality and
retrace our steps. It is needless to cry over spilt milk, but I dare to add
that we are a country in dire need of redemption- and very fast too”.
The Deputy President of
the Senate, however, expressed confidence in the capacity of Nigerian professionals
to help lift the nation out of the current recession. He, therefore, tasked the
APBN to rise to the challenges of the moment.
Senator Ekweremadu added:
“Our redemption must start from within; and looking
at the array
of the professional bodies that make up the APBN, I see hope for our nation. We
certainly have the requisite knowledge and human resources to revamp our
economy if we deploy round pegs in round holes, regardless of political,
religious, and ethnic affiliations.
“For the APBN in
particular, it is time to show your strength and worth. I charge you to rise to
the occasion and proffer short, medium, and long-term solutions to our economic
crisis”.
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