Ibadan, Dec. 17, 2023: Vice-President Kashim Shettima on Saturday in Ibadan stated that Nigeria’s private sector has a very big role to play in the country’s development.
Shettima stated this at an event at the University of Ibadan to honour a former governor of Oyo State, the late Sen. Abiola Ajimobi.
The Vice-President, represented by Bashir Maidugu, his Senior Special Adviser (SSA) on Legal Services, said it was already a fact that government has limited resources to meet the demands of Nigerians.
“We all know that government has many things to deal with, all of them with their competing needs, yet there are limited resources.
”The private sector has to fill in the gap at this point, and this is why government will continue to work with the private sector for a rapid development of Nigeria,” he said.
Shettima then urged Nigerians to continue to do the right things and live peacefully with one another for the peace and unity of Nigeria.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the event was the sixth edition of the annual Sen. Abiola Ajimobi Foundation (SAAF) and Ajimobi’s 74th post-humous birthday.
The event had the theme “Re-Engineering Nigeria For Sustainable Development: Options, Costs and Prospects”.
The event’s lead speaker, the Pioneer Dean, Unibadan’s Faculty of Multidisciplinary Studies, Prof. Isaac Albert, said Nigeria could be ranked among the best in the world.
”But this will be if there is the political will to revive it by its leaders,” he said.
Albert said Nigeria’s leaders must muster the necessary political will for progress and bring about sustainable development in the country.
“Nigeria is going nowhere if there is no political will on the part of its leaders, especially as we have seen so far that the country’s politicians have failed to deliver the dividends of democracy to the masses,” he said.
Albert, however, said the emergence of Sen. Bola Tinubu as Nigeria’s President has began to turn things around positively based on some certain steps taken by his administration.
He said Nigerians were initially suspicious of Tinubu’s slogan of Renewed Hope Agenda and also Tinubu himself due to failure of past administrations.
The speaker then urged Nigerians to give President Tinubu time to build the nation.
The SAAF President, Mrs Florence Ajimobi, while speaking during the event, expatiated on its theme.
She said it signposts the foundation’s unflinching belief in the vision of collaboration and pursuit of ideals of good governance and accelerated development of the Nigerian state.
Ajimobi said the five previous editions of the event had impacted fruitfully as stakeholders, non-statutory bodies and others have taken realistic steps in responding to the conclusions of those thematic events.
She said that late Sen. Ajimobi, who was the founder of the foundation, had passionate interest in propelling and promoting good governance.
“The Federal Government and other stakeholders will benefit a lot from the topic and its realisable recommendations will aid in Nigeria’s development.”
In his remarks, the Vice-Chancellor of UI, Prof. Kayode Adebowale, described the late Ajimobi as a lover of academics.
He added that his legacy would continue to remain in the University of Ibadan, Oyo State and Nigeria in general.
The keynote speaker at the event, the Minister of Power, Adebayo Adelabu, said the responsibility of nation-building should be the concern of all Nigerians.
”The problem of leadership in Nigeria must be dealt with for the development and progress of Nigeria.”
Adelabu called on Nigerians not to fail in their responsibilities of holding their leaders accountable for the progress of the country.
He assured Nigerians that the country would soon witness a transformation in development with the emergence of President Bola Tinubu.
The minister said Nigeria needed to invest in education, health and youth empowerment to foster the country’s development.
Adelabu also expressed his appreciation of the Ajimobi family for sustaining the former governor’s legacy.
”It is incumbent on all members of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the state to emulate the late Ajimobi for the development of the party and the state in general,” he said.
In their respective remarks, Gov. Dapo Abiodun of Ogun and Gov. Makinde of Oyo State called on the Federal Government to remove the natural resources from the exclusive list to concurrent list.
They said this would enable states derive massive benefit from that sector.
