Dr. Obiageli Ezekwesili delivering her address at the 2016 Excellence Awards by the Abuja Chamber of Commerce and Industry
The 2016 Excellence Awards hosted by
the Abuja Chamber of Commerce and Industry [ACCI] on February 24, 2016 at the
Ladi Kwali Conference Center of the Sheraton Hotel saw the topnotch investors
and entrepreneurs along with top personalities of the political cadre in
Nigeria in attendance. Among the many notable attendees was the former
Education Minister and controversial activist in the person of Dr. Obiageli
Ezekwesili – who was slated as the special keynote speaker at the event.
The attendees as Dr. Obiageli
Ezekwesili delivered her remarks
Dr. Obiageli Ezekwesili who took to the
stage at about minutes after 8pm was greeted with a resounding round of
applause which visibly stunned the former Education Minister into acknowledging
that she had not gotten such rousing welcome in a longtime.
She began her address by delving
into the rot in the Nigerian system and how it has threatened to derail any
meaningful efforts put forth by well meaning business entities or groups
looking to achieve or reward excellence. she recalled how she was
approached numerous occasions by nefarious groups looking to give her an award
in the past – and how they would then require her to let go with large sums of
money in return. “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 who has been
known to speak her mind without care for who’s ox is gored 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“? Her answer pointed to lack of good governance and
weak combat against corruption. “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.”
Her remarks ended with an equally
rousing applause.
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