Lack of Good Governance Cause for Current Economic woes – Ezekwesili

Among the many notable attendees at the 2016 Excellence Awards hosted by the Abuja Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ACCI) on February 24, 2016, was the former Education Minister and controversial activist, Dr. Obiageli Ezekwesili, who was slated as the special keynote speaker at the event.

In her address, she stated,  “You all know that most of these awards are paid for“, she exclaimed while continuing that “most Nigeria politicians pay for awards to be given to them. You all know how it is done in Nigeria. Groups in Nigeria now use awards to raise funds.” She however excused ACCI as one of the exceptions.

Dr. Obiageli Ezekwesili launched into a coated criticism of the current administrators of the country and Abuja in particular. She started with the question of why industries in Nigeria cannot achieve excellence when “we have roads, power supply, rail, manpower, and every other thing? Lack of good governance is the cause for our current economic woes“. 

She pointed to bad policy decisions by policy makers as responsible for the ongoing exodus of business investors and foreign industries out of the country. “Policy makers must identify barriers blocking growth economic growth. They must provide the enablers to doing business in Nigeria and Abuja. They should not be the obstacles like they are presently“.

She continued to elaborate that the new administration at the Federal Capital Territory [FCT] is faced with a task that it must handle with intelligence and smarts. She cautioned that at the present rate, the investors in Abuja would be all gone before the end of the year. “The administrators must sit up“, she flared, adding that “if the administrators of the FCT are not careful, the businesses in Abuja will vacate Abuja. The FCT administrators must be part of the Excellence in order to breed the economy of Abuja.”