‘Ethnic, religious sentiments barriers to national growth’
Chairman of Senate Committee on Power, Enyinnaya Abaribe, has said ethnicity and religious sentiments are some barriers facing the country and could affect national development.
According to him, these barriers are intertwined and can bring down a nation.
He stressed the need for a collective effort to stand against these factors to advance course of citizens and the nation itself.
He was the keynote speaker at the 114th annual Founder’s Day lecture organised by King’s College Old Boys Association (KCOBA) in Lagos.
It had as theme: Dismantling the barriers: Creating a pathway for emergence of effective leaders in Nigeria.”
“Whenever you see a system where people put tribal and religious sentiments ahead of good governance, then such system could be heading for difficult times. Ultimately, it slows down progress.
“We must also not allow our inability to take care of our children by allowing them drop out of school and align with some other things in the name of religion.
‘’We must not leave out the substance that we are supposed to use to make Nigeria great.
“We must be able to know when to draw the line by ensuring the children are given their rights, especially quality education, taught good morals as well as commit more to character moulding that will give way to sound leaders of the country,” he said.
The lawmaker identified lack of justice and equity as a barrier hindering growth and development.
“Nothing endangers the feeling of citizens, when they seem to be treated like second class citizens, especially when it is done brazenly.
“Another barrier is that of lack of competence and vision. Institutional competence has also been discovered over time to be one of the major reason for the state of our nation today. There is the need for the right man for the job to always be the one to be considered, irrespective of who is involved.
“Another issue that has posed as a serious barrier to the advancement of our country is that of corruption…’’
“Nigeria as a country is blessed with a lot of honest and enterprising people and we must not allow the corrupt ones to hold us down, because of their shameful acts. The challenge is that we hardly make a scape goat of any one.
“We must encourage those that are forthright, showcase them to the world in order to breakdown these barriers,” he said.
A senior advocate of Nigeria SAN and an old boy of the college, Mr Etigwe Uwa (SAN) , said weaponisation of poverty and ethnicity by some political leaders were responsible for the slow pace of national development and growth.
According to Uwa, most corrupt politicians are the reason the country still lags behind, adding that they seem not to make the yearnings of the poor masses their priority.
Mr Funsho Doherty, urged citizens not to lose hope as the country was blessed with abundance of both human and material resources.
According to him, democracy itself does not produce good leaders, noting that all what is required is good pillars to ensure the emergence of such leaders.
President of the association, Alhaji Kashim Ibrahim-Imam emphasised on the need for a free and compulsory basic education for children of school age.
According to him, education is the right of every child, adding that the country was doing itself as well as the children a disservice, if it failed to provide it.
Mr Olumide Akpata, Chairman, Planning Committee of this year’s King’s Week said if the country must dismantle the barriers to development, it must start with the people.
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