ETIM EFFIONG
When good leaders are elected into positions of leadership, Nigeria’s problems are resolvable, the Akwa Ibom State Governor, Mr Udom Emmanuel, has said.
The governor urged Nigerians to ensure that good leaders are elected during the 2023 general elections to surmount the challenges the country was going through.
Emmanuel said this in his remarks while declaring the Conference of Forum of Former Deputy Governors of Nigeria opens in Uyo on Tuesday, 25 October 2022.
Speaking on the theme of the one-day conference, “Nation in Challenging Times,” Emmanuel noted that challenging times are not only applicable to Nigeria but a global phenomenon.
He hailed the former deputy governor’s forum for the theme, describing it as apt in view of the global challenging times.
“Issues confronting Nigeria is very surmountable, all we need is leadership structure. That even when people were challenged, even in the Old Testament, it will always take a leader to come out from somewhere and things will change.
“I still believe the solution to our challenges is on those that we appoint to lead us. Certainly, there are basic things we must get right, the basic structure we must bring down for us to move ahead and for us to move as a people.
“It is really challenging, that even Great Britain is affected, honestly, we are facing a major challenging time in our nation and all over the world.
“You can see countries are trying to adjust and readjust. How could you wake up one morning and hear a whole state is underwater? It goes beyond human comprehension. It is also a time whether we believe it or not to come closer to the Almighty,” Emmanuel said.
The governor urged all former deputy governors in the country to join the forum to build a better Nigeria, stressing that nobody is the custodian of knowledge.
In his welcome remarks, the chairman on the occasion, Chief Kanu Agabi, commended the forum for coming together to deliberate on ways of finding lasting solutions to the nation’s problems.
Agabi added that the problems confronting the country should not divide the nation but rather unite and strengthen the country.
He urged Nigerians to have hope believing that the problems facing the nation would be overcome, advising that no problem should divide the country.
In his keynote address, Prof. Audu Gambo of the Karl Kumm University in Jos said that the pathway to Nigeria’s greatest is the promotion of good governance, where every citizen is treated as an equitable stakeholder in the national project.
Gambo said that there has been a progressive decline in the quality of elections and that was robbing the country of the desired leadership to drive national growth and development.
