ALLAFRICA.COM
Leadership (Abuja) [27/02/13]
By Abiodun Taiwo
Former United States president Bill Clinton
yesterday came hard on the federal government, saying it is regrettable
that the country has not managed resources realised from oil money
effectively.
Clinton, the 42nd president of the US, spoke in Abeokuta, Ogun State,
during the 18th edition of the THISDAY Awards. He also lamented the
growing rate of poverty in Nigeria. If the trend is not reversed, he
warned, it portends a great challenge to the country.
"I would say you have challenges. First of all, like 90 per cent of
countries who have one big resource, you haven't done well with your oil
money. You should have reinvested it in different ways. You don't do a
better job of managing natural resources," the former American leader
said, adding that the country could only achieve its potential "if you
bring economic opportunity to the people who don't have".
"This is not a problem specific to Nigeria. Almost every place in the
world, prosperity is heavily concentrated in and around urban areas,"
he noted. "The poverty line in the whole of Africa has taken a very
alarming dimension."
Calling on leaders to salvage the situation through proper education
and empowerment of the youths, he stated: "With qualitative and
efficient education, the continent could be liberated and empowered
through the use of different technologies that are evolving daily. And
then, you have to empower people with education, so they can succeed at
home as well as around the world, so that all these political problems
and religious differences, and all the rhetoric of Boko Haram could be
surmounted."
Attributing the crisis in the country to poverty, Clinton said: "The
truth is the poverty rate in the north which is three times greater than
what it is in the Lagos area, and to deal with that, you have to have
both powerful stake in the local governments and a national policy that
work together.
Clinton further disclosed that there was the need for the country to
harness its intellectuals and individuals with track records all over
the world. He said: "There has to be a way to take the staggering
intellectual and organisational ability that Nigerians exhibit in every
country in the world in which they are immigrants and bring it to bear
here so that the country as a whole can rise.
"One of the people on my trip with me today who unfortunately could
not come up here because he had to go visit his family is a young
Nigerian-American named Nnamdi. He is an all pro-quarter back footballer
for the Philadelphia Eagles. He's a wonderful man; he does great work
in America for poor kids in Arkansas City and he became a friend of
mine.
"Both his parents have PhDs; his sister has a PhD. He often says,
'I'm the failure in my family and I only have a university degree and I
play football.' My point is: there are Nigerians who are like this all
over the world! What you have to figure out is how to keep those people
in Nigeria and how to ensure their success leads on into the rest of the
country."
The former US president further called for investment in
infrastructure, saying that the development would foster positive
growth. "I think solving the economic divide that is in your country
will help the political divide; making better use of your resources,
advising that the country should invest more on infrastructure," he
said. "Nigeria is trying to set up an investment fund where the federal
government will set it up and the governors are being consulted so that
they can concentrate the capital. That is the problem in India. They
have unbelievable entrepreneurs but they are not very good at collecting
capital and investing it in infrastructure so that they can unite the
poor part of the country with the rich part. That's what you have to
do."
The event was witnessed by former president Olusegun Obasanjo and the
governors of Ogun and Delta states, Ibikunle Amosun and Emmanuel
Uduaghan respectively. The theme of the event was "Celebrating
Teachers".
About 18 teachers were given a cash award of N2 million naira each. Other individuals were honoured on the occasion.
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