The Minister of Works and Housing, Mr Babatunde Fashola and Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila, Speaker, Federal House of Representatives are among personalities to proffer solutions to Nigeria’s rising debt profile.
The event scheduled to hold in Lagos on Sept.15 and Sept.16 will commemorate the Institute of Chartered Secretaries and Administrators of Nigeria (ICSAN) 46th annual conference.
Mrs Funmi Ekundayo, Vice President, ICSAN, said at a news conference on Tuesday that the theme of the conference is: “The National Debt Burden: Causes, Effects and Realistic Economic Solutions”.
According to Ekundayo, the essence of the theme for the conference is of utmost concern to every Nigerian, seeing that the rise in the country’s debt profile has been quite alarming in recent times.
“The truth of the matter is that debt is an important part of any fiscal policy.
“Debt is not a bad thing but its purpose is what matters.
“When you have the right means for your financing as a nation and you do the right thing which includes infrastructure and other developmental purposes; which can act as a leverage for the economy in the long run to pay up those debts without much ado.
“But if we use the debts in the wrong direction, especially for recurrent expenditure, then that is where the problem lies,” she said.
The ICSAN vice president said that the annual conference would be kicking off with a walk for life fitness.
She said that the exercise would take place simultaneously across all chapters of the federation with other Corporate Social Responsibilities lined up for the day.
She further said that the Chairman of the opening ceremony would be Fashola, Special Guest of Honour, Gbajabiamila, while the keynote speaker would be Mr Ben Akabueze, Director-General, Budget office of the federation.
“The Chairman of the Dinner and Awards Night is Prince Yemi Adefolu, Chairman of Council, Tai Solarin College of Education.
“Mrs Folashade Yemi-Esan, Head of Civil Service of the Federation and Mr Ayuba Wabba, President, Nigeria Labour Congress are some of the discussants at the conference,” she said.
Ekundayo said that some of the sub-themes that would be discussed at the conference are; “Public Administration: Entrenching Sound Governance Principles for Macroeconomic Growth”.
Others, she said are: “Beyond Governance,; the Role of Dedicated Followership in Participatory Democracy”, and “The Evolving Volatile, Uncertain, Complex and Ambiguous Compliance Landscape in Nigeria: A New Dashboard for the Chartered Secretary”.
She added that at end of the conference, recommendations would be forwarded to the Federal Government on how to proffer solutions to national debt and the way forward for other macro-economic indices..
The mode of the conference, Dinner and Awards Night will be hybrid while the physical event will be at the Shell Hall, Muson Centre, Onikan.
