Invest In Nigeria’s Transformation, Don Tells Tinubu, Nigerian Leaders

A frontline university lecturer and Dean, Faculty of Humanities, Ignatius Ajuru University of Education (IAUE), Rumuolumeni, Port-Harcourt , Prof. Kingdom Ordi has admonished President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the 36 State Governors and other Nigerian leaders to use the one year anniversary celebration of this dispensation in Nigeria to invest more in  the development of the country, so as to provide jobs and empowerment for the teeming unemployed youths of the country.

Speaking with newsmen recently in Port-Harcourt, shortly after the 42nd Convocation ceremony of the Ignatius Ajuru University of Education, Rumuolumeni, Port-Harcourt, Ordi said that  the investment in the transformation of the country, especially in infrastructural development, such as,roads,cottage industries water, rural electrification, education, agriculture, employment generation,among others would help curb insecurity and allow peace to reign in Nigeria, as to reduce joblessness index which is very high in the country.

He said: “These funds should be channeled in building genuine human – faced development in Nigeria.

“The country needs industries. Nigeria needs more development for its citizenry. Nigeria needs vibrant education system and I want to plead with President Bola Tinubu,the 36 State Governors and other Nigerian leaders and stakeholders that this is the opportunity to set an achievable legacy that the globe and people of Nigeria will never forget, especially when job is  created,  through quality service delivery as it affects the provision of  multi-facet industries, agricultural development in the 774 Local Government Areas of the country, well refined education, health and infrastructural refurbishment.”

Prof.Ordi urged President Tinubu, the Governors and all other stakeholders to revive some of Nigeria’s abandoned projects, saying,” I want to plead with them that these are the things needed for investment. The nation’s resources should not be given to politicians aides . People that are professionals should be employed to manage this resources in the transformation of all the country’s economic and other sectors for rapid growth.”

The don demanded that the government of the day should be more prudent on its infrastructural, educational and other sectors spending in the 2024 budget year to get “our army of unemployed youths to be gainfully engaged and the rate of insecurity and  crimes in the country.”

He argued that all over the world, quality services, especially on the educational  emancipation, agricultural refurbishment and the provision of cottage industries, as well as, other allied businesses have been identified as the major employers of labour as experts in all the sectors have severally stated that a well thought out development in the economic programmes can absorb over one million citizens in Nigeria.

He condemned what he described as the continuous lack of investment in the economic, education, health and agricultural sectors by the Federal Government, various  state governments ably headed by President Bola Tinubu, state governors and other development stakeholders despite budgetary allocation in 2020 during the administration of former President of Nigeria, Muhammadu Buhari to the tune of over trillions of naira, which was later reviewed downward to billions of  naira because of the effect of the then COVID-19 pandemic on the country’s economy.

“The condemnation has become necessary as the administration of Muhammadu Buhari failed to improve on the previous development programmes or altogether create a new programmes or altogether create a new programme since its inception in 2015,” Prof. Kingdom Ordi said.

The erudite scholar stressed that “This is a country that had scored very poorly on the unemployment survey carried out by the National Bureau of Statistic(NBS), where he pointed out that as keen observers like him, the employment index did not come to us as a surprise.”

There is a nexus between unemployment and insecurity”.

Prof.Kingdom Ordi claimed that all moribund and abandoned projects in Nigeria was more of a programme sponsored by the oil giant, the Shell Petroleum Development Company Limited (SPDC), and should not be described as an investment of Nigerian government.