25022021 - Way out of Nigeria’s security problems

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C M Y K 24 — Vanguard, THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 25, 2021 Ekeh: Toast to an entrepreneur-patriot By RAY UMUKORO NIGERIA is reputed to be a difficult place to do business, especially if your business is the type that requires constant power supply. It’s even more cumbersome if other businesses depend on your business to thrive. When your business is an enabler of other businesses, you are encumbered with more pressure and responsibility. You must grind out success for others to succeed. That was the dilemma of Leo Stan Ekeh over three decades ago when he returned from the United Kingdom to birth an information communications technology, ICT, start-up. And he chose the complex computer ecosystem, then thought to be out of the ken of knowledge for Africa and Africans. Against odds, he has made a success of it, etching his name on the boulder of history. As he marked his 65th birthday, February 22, it was apposite to peek into the life odyssey of the man who easily typifies the true Nigerian spirit of courage and productivity even in the face of crippling headwinds. Needless to say that no comet heralded his birth but his life has been a herald of hope for humanity and the nation. And if every victory has a scar, as it’s often said, then Leo Stan bears many scars, seen and unseen. He has fought many battles, chief of which is the battle against ignorance. The Imo State-born computer magnate is reputed to be behind the computerisation of many Nigerian secondary schools, higher institutions and corporates. He has spent more than half of his life working to change the orientation of Nigeria and Nigerians from analogue to digital. This has seen him at the cutting edge of pioneering several tech-based initiatives, and growing a small computer typesetting office operating from a rather obscure office in Alausa, Lagos into a conglomerate with interests in ICT, property, banking, e- commerce, oil, among others. Gifted with unrelenting entrepreneurial spunk, he has since grown his yesterday’s startup from its initial one-office space in Lagos to a multinational with offices in Africa, Europe and Asia. So, who’s Leo Stan? He’s the one his close associates call the pioneer-in-chief. He pioneered desktop publishing in Nigeria. It’s akin to setting the captives free. He changed the entire Nigerian publishing landscape from its slow and dodgy analogue routine to a smart, clean digital patch. Newspapers, advertising agencies and printing houses were the early birds to embrace what was then seen as the magic box, the computer. At a time Nigerian media houses felt very comfortable with their typewriters and compugraphic machines, it took Leo Stan to disrupt the system. He pushed aside their burly compugraphic machines and placed in their hands the then rave of the moment, Apple computers. He’s the one who for the Leo Stan is the one his close associates call the pioneer-inchief; he pioneered desktop publishing in Nigeria first time introduced theWorldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access, WiMAX, to Nigeria, planting the first hub in Yobe State in 2007, and exposing the state to a brave new world of opportunities and skill in cyberspace. He pioneered the deployment of digital dispensing pumps at Nigerian filling stations, a business born out of circumstance than anything else. Before he partnered with then Elf oil (now Total Plc) to upscale fuel dispensing with digital dispensers, he had fallen victim to a notorious scam among petrol station attendants who cashed in on the unintelligent analogue fuel pumps to cheat on motorists. Leo Stan was fleeced at a filling station in Ikeja, Lagos. It was that incident that opened his eyes to the business opportunity unnoticed by many at the filling stations. He’s the archetypal street-smart opportunistic investor. Again, who’s he? He’s the undisputed pioneer of e-Commerce in Nigeria when he launched BuyRightAfrica.com in 2012. Aside being the forerunner of all the e-commerce ventures in Nigeria, BuyRightAfrica, though suffered a temporary death, was later resurrected by his son, Prince Nnamdi Ekeh, first as Yudala and now Konga. He’s the man who, having made a success of automating corporate Nigeria with exotic computer brands, decided to create his own brand, a Nigerian computer identity. He made good his ambition when he launched the Zinox range in 2001 during President Olusegun Obasanjo tenure. Zinox was not just an expression of patriotism and ambition, it was a carefully created brand and the first indigenous computer to earn both Intel and Microsoft certification. It came bundled with inbuilt power surge protector, taking cognisance of Nigeria’s epileptic power supply prone to surges and brownouts. Plus, it has a naira sign cleverly engrafted as part of the Q- w-e-r-t-y keyboard. This gave Zinox a shoulder-high advantage over other exotic brands to the delight of President Obasanjo who had to issue a directive to ministries, departments and agencies, MDAs, to standardise their tech operations on Zinox and other indigenous brands most of which were swamped in the marketplace by foreign brands until Zinox burst into the stage. Today, the Zinox brand has not only made inroad into Nigerian offices, it has been deployed to host major international conferences and events including the seventh Ordinary Session of the Assembly of the Africa Union, AU, from July 2 to 5, 2006 in Banjul, The Gambia. The list is •Leo Stan Ekeh @ 65 long. Leo Stan is the patriot who made gamechanging interventions during Nigeria’s 2007 and 2011 general elections. He leveraged on the strength and international partnerships of Zinox to salvage Nigeria’s voter registration exercise by delivering 11,500 Direct Data Capture, DDC, machines in 14 days for the 2007 polls. That marked an epochal introduction of technology into the nation’s electoral process and ended the duplicity that hallmarked the voter register in the past. He repeated the same feat in 2011 when he delivered 80,000 fully integrated units of DDC machines within 35 days ahead of two foreign companies just in time for the conduct of the general elections of that year much to the relief of then INEC chairman, Professor Attahiru Jega. Though a successful entrepreneur, but he’s quick to tell you he’s not mindful of the balance sheet, but is concerned more by the value he adds to humanity. He tells you he’s not driven by profit but by empathy for mankind and it shows in the manner he strives to wipe away tears from those who weep and give food to the hungry. A very silent philanthropist, he has built a collateral of integrity over the years which has earned him respect from global players in the ICT agora. For his ceaseless efforts to help in building a better Nigeria not just by creating jobs but by creating the milieu and technology that make it possible for Nigerians, especially the youths, to claw their way into the complex computer technology marketplace where they have brought honour to the country, Leo Stan has been rewarded with a couple of national medals. President Muhammadu Buhari in 2019 honoured him alongside Aliko Dangote and others with the National Productivity Order of Merit, NPOM, award. President Obasanjo also on October 1, 2001 named him ‘Icon of Hope,’ a symbolic emblem that speaks to his birthing of a new threshold of hope for the nation and her teeming youths. All this in addition to the Order of the Federal Republic, OFR, national honour, Microsoft Global Adviser, dozens of national and international awards and several honorary doctorate degrees (Honoris Causa) from Nigerian universities. Continues online:www.vanguardngr.com •Umukoro, a journalist, wrote from Lagos TRIBUTE Jide Akinbiyi: Man of history drops into history By BANJI OJEWALE AFTER his long engagement in enriching and enchanting encounters with history, Prince Edward Olajide Akinbiyi has himself slipped into the annals, passing on at the age of 87. He died in Lagos on Tuesday, February 9, 2021, leaving behind a mixed multitude of mourners and merrymakers. It has been a rare hybrid of emotions at the loss of one man. The point is that all deaths, even if timely at a grand old age, bring up criers. Akinbiyi didn’t depart a young man, but there are those grieving who would have loved to relish more of his old age tenderness, compassion and charity. They claim they got to meet the prince of Ibadan only lately. And then suddenly, he was cut off from them. Surely, they have reasons to be sorrowful. There’s a large crowd of this group in the prince’s primary constituency, journalism. A WhatsApp conclave with the mission to revive the ideals of the iconic WNTV, Africa’s first TV station, has continued to wail on account of the death of Akinbiyi, a revered member of the platform. He was part of the pioneering staff of the news room of WNTV when it all started in 1959. They say they will henceforth be bereft of the prudence of his intervention each time they derailed. And we go off line often in the group. We routinely depart from the mission and vision that should drive the struggle to reclaim the Obafemi Awolowo dream aborted by a military junta under Olusegun Obasanjo in the '70s. Yemi Farounbi, Nigeria’s ex-ambassador to the Philippines and one-time general manager of WNTV-WNBS, leads us in the group. He is our chief mourner. He can no longer count on the weighty counsel of Akinbiyi. For, in the past, when the former envoy failed to tame the tempests of members’ wild tempers, he would look in the direction of the sedate Pa Akinbiyi. The prince of Ibadan never turned him down. What many of us didn’t know A nationalist until he died, Akinbiyi never supported the strident calls that Nigeria should break up was that most times Farounbi kept the hotline between him and Baba busy, all in the service of the group. Mama Olufemi Akinbiyi, Pa Akinbiyi’s spouse of 55 years, is in the company of mourners. In her 80s also, she will miss Baba. They were love birds to the end. Each time you called to say hello to Akinbiyi, and you rounded off by requesting him to extend your compliments to his wife, Akinbiyi would say: "She’s right beside me. Will you want to speak to her?” And Mama’s voice would be next on the line. They were inseparable. Now, there’s a divide: doleful, painful and baneful. You can’t blame Mama if she weeps, consolably or inconsolably. The community of activists urging that Nigeria should be structured in order to return the country to a genuine federal arrangement that powered its progress before the military struck in 1966 would also miss Akinbiyi. He was a recognised member of Afenifere and National Democratic Coalition, NADECO, two of the implacable anti-military bodies that have been responsible for Nigeria not sliding into anarchy and extinction. He was also a founding father of Alliance for Democracy, AD, the party seen as the successor to Awo’s UPN that made waves in the Second Republic. Akinbiyi’s early links to the camps of the great Obafemi Awolowo and Lateef Jakande, Awo’s acolyte, placed the Ibadan prince in the ideological cauldron that served to brew a disciple who on his own continued to shape himself, first from what was passed to him by the masters, and later from what he gained by diligent study of the Nigerian political environment. The progressive camp in the society will feel the absence of Baba Akinbiyi because his professional exploits were interpreted, correctly in my view, as the outgrowth of his intercourse with politics. His position, as I gathered in many of discussions with him, was that journalism, or any other profession, should be an avenue to serve the society. So, when there was a political crisis in the Western Region that displaced his hero, Awo, Akinbiyi left WNTV. The emerging •The late Prince Edward Olajide Akinbiyi atmosphere threatened the concept of marrying ideology and profession. There must be a union of the twain to allow for perfect professional service to the people. So in 1964 he dashed to Lagos, where he applied his experience at the premier TV station to work in the Nigerian Television Service at Victoria Island. That, again, was history for Akinbiyi. He would go on to be at the centre of the formation of Nigerian Television Authority Network News. That didn’t last. Akinbiyi wasn’t getting ideological fulfillment in his work at NTA, owned by a conservative government at the centre. Jakande, his old friend, had become the governor of Lagos State in the Second Republic in Lagos. Seeking to break the propaganda monopoly of the central government as well as use the media to publicise the great socio-economic strides in Lagos, Jakande brought in Akinbiyi to establish the leveller Lagos Television, LTV8. It was a leveller because other states followed suit and opened their own stations, ushering in a level ground for TV broadcast. The Federal Government was no longer on the high horse we all looked up to in the industry. How did Jakande and Akinbiyi develop such intimate bond? Once, Akinbiyi had left Lagos to interview Jakande in Ibadan. The latter was working on a script he couldn’t abandon to attend to Akinbiyi, who was kept waiting for five hours. The interview finally commenced at 1.00am! Akinbiyi impressed Jakande, himself a journalist of no trifling note, who knew how to weigh a reporter through his capacity to endure or manage seeming rejection by the ‘prey’. Now, for Jakande also, like Awo when he inaugurated WNTV, your service to society through your journalism, must be in the context of your ideological instincts. Let’s not make any mistake about it: when you report the news or engage in any editorial outgrowth of the news, you’re reflecting society, not for the raw mission of informing, but for applying a complex process of the information to improve society. A study of the legislative debate that preceded the creation of WNTV forcefully confirms this. In his lifetime Akinbiyi followed that tradition, standing on journalism to look into his environment. He didn’t suffer any prismatic disorder to blur his vision. A nationalist until he died, Akinbiyi never supported the strident calls that Nigeria should break up. He coined the term ‘emirate north’ to describe the cabal responsible for the problems of Nigeria. He argued this group would be neutralised only if Nigeria is restructured to let the regions operate with a severely enervated centre. I did say at the opening of this tribute that there are those who would celebrate the passage of Jide Akinbiyi, even when we mourn. They are those, like me, that sat at his feet and received an exceptional experience of history. He would speak of journalistic trips. He would tell you of meetings he had with great personalities: Awo, Nnamdi Azikiwe, Jakande, Kwame Nkrumah, Anthony Enahoro, etc. He would tell you that his country began sinking when the weight of the military was added to the ship of state. Sadly, Baba Akinbiyi didn’t complete a book he began writing in old age to document the story of Nigeria and the roles of some of these nationalists along with his interpretations of their actions and how they could help repair the gravely battered polity now on a cusp overlooking an abyss. The country will miss Prince Edward Olajide Akinbiyi! *Ojewale, a journalist, wrote from Ota, Ogun State.
Towards a new Nigeria: From Federal Fatherism to a Commonwealth BY DR AKINWUMI ADESINA I would like to congratulate my dear brother and friend, H.E. Oluwarotimi Akeredolu, SAN, on his well-deserved re-election as the Executive Governor of Ondo State. Your renewed mandate by the good people of Ondo State, is an undeniable mark of confidence in your remarkable leadership. Thank you for greatly honouring me with an invitation to deliver this inauguration lecture. My lecture today is titled: “Towards a New Nigeria: From Federal Fatherism to a Commonwealth”. Let me be clear from the onset that I speak for no one, I speak about no one, I speak for myself, from my heart, about my country, the nation of my birth, for which I have a relentless passion and longing for its glorious future, not too far from now. It has been a long time Governor “Aketi” since our student days at the great University of Ife, where we always say “great”. Today, I say to you “Aketi”: “Great”! - congratulations! Your Excellency, Governor Akeredolu, like an athlete on the 4th and final lap of a 400-meter race, you must now run for the home stretch with your eyes fixed on the finish line that is ahead of you. Race for legacy It is a race for legacy. A legacy, for you, a legacy for the people of Ondo State. You stand today as Governor of Ondo State, for a second time, by the grace of God. Be the instrument to change things, more radically. Make your second term one of double blessings for the people. Make growth more inclusive. Harness the dynamism and entrepreneurship of the youth and the power of the industrious women of Ondo State. This is the time to consolidate. This is the time to readjust. This is the time to move at a pace faster than you ever have. There is always a tendency for complacency during a second term, with the pressure of running for re-election no longer a factor. In such situations, the sense of urgency can easily evaporate. Therefore, with an eye on history, this is the time to reignite your vision. When the pages of history are turned, let them be turned to remember you for the exceptional good that you have done for the people of Ondo State. As a Minister of Agriculture in Nigeria, I had the great opportunity to work with all the state governors and state governments. When I launched the Agricultural Transformation Agenda that revolutionized Nigeria’s agriculture and food security, and turned agriculture into a business, I recognized that success required that I worked very closely with all state governments of the federation — regardless of party affiliation. Without the States, there will be no Nigeria. Therefore, Nigeria can only be as strong as its constituent States. Ondo State is rich in resources. Consider that it has the second largest deposits of bitumen in the world. With an estimated 37 billion barrels of bitumen reserves, the bulk of which is found in Ondo State, this vital resource remains untapped in Nigeria (Source: The State of the States Report, 2018). Given its vast resources in bitumen, Ondo State should have the best roads in Nigeria. But its roads are barely tarred with bitumen. That is the irony of Nigeria: it imports what it has in abundance and leaves its own resources untapped. The total value of bitumen reserves in Nigeria could be worth up to $1.5 trillion. With an estimated 16 billion barrels But let us face it, political autonomy is meaningless, unless it is backed by greater fiscal selfreliance at the state level ency. State Governors now spend more time in Abuja than they do in their own states, seeking the monthly federal manna. This financial pilgrimage creates a sense of helplessness and overt dependency on the centre. States must become financially independent of the centre in Abuja. The USA from which Nigeria derived its federal system, is essentially a coercive federalism. The federal government uses conditional grants to states to mainly support social, infrastructure and insurance programs. Essentially, these are ‘carrots’ to get the states to do what the centre expects. Nigeria’s system is essentially a revenue sharing system. To be clear: only three states in Nigeria can survive without a Federal Revenue Allocation. This is a Federalism of fiscal dependency. It is a Federalism that is fiscally unhealthy for the states and the Federal Government. Because Nigeria depends on oil for over 70% of government revenues, any decline in the price of oil creates fiscal and economic volatilities that reverberate across the states. What’s needed is greater economic and fiscal autonomy for the States. The issue is less about state or regional autonomy, but financial and economic viability of Nigeria’s constituent states. If Nigeria were to be a conglomerate firm, it would not be economically viable because 92% of its constituent ‘subsidiary companies’ are not viable without the support of the holding company. Nigeria’s federalism does not grow its constituent entities. It simply makes them perpetually dependent. The Nigerian system is therefore not Federalism ... but ‘Fatherism’. The agitations for decentralization can be understood in Ondo state, the potential state wealth from bitumen alone could be worth $657 billion. The paradox however is that Nigeria spends over 300 billion Naira importing bitumen. The publication The State of States (2018) shows that the vast deposits of bitumen can help Ondo State break into the asphalt shingles market that is estimated to be worth $10 billion globally by 2022 (The State of States, 2018 edition). Ondo State also has abundant deposits of metals and minerals such as granite, gold, marbles, gemstones, lignite, and diorite. The State has one of the largest gas deposits in the world. It could also become a leading exporter and processor of cocoa and earn at least $1 billion per year (Source: The State of the States, 2018 edition, by www.YourBudgit.com). But nobody eats potential. Ondo State’s wealth is not seen. It is locked under the ground. The state ranks number 13 of the top 20 States in Nigeria in terms of its GDP, estimated at $ 8.4 billion. That is the irony of Nigeria’s states: They are poor in the midst of plenty. They do not maximally explore or leverage what they already have in abundance. The Federal system of monthly grants has paralyzed them. With stupendous resources, all concentrated at the centre, states are ever dependent on the centre. With the magnetic field of federal revenue allocations, states are constantly pulled, powerlessly into perennial depend- Dr Akinwumi Adesina when viewed in the light of a craving for greater autonomy. Greater fiscal selfreliance But let us face it, political autonomy is meaningless, unless it is backed by greater fiscal selfreliance at the state level. Nigeria has an estimated 87 million people living in extreme poverty. You cannot tax people who can barely afford to eat. This debilitating poverty makes the country highly vulnerable to social and political risks. And it provides fodder for anti-social behaviour and recruitment by insurgents and terrorists. Poverty provides supermarkets for terrorists. The level of indebtedness of Nigeria is extremely high, at N22 trillion. The debt stock of states is over N4.1 trillion. The three states with the highest revenues also have the highest levels of debt. Without incomes and rising debt, many states are essentially not viable. Nigeria’s inequality is also extreme. Over 55% of the youth do not have jobs. Rural areas are now zones of economic misery with high rates of poverty and extremely high birth rates. This double whammy continues to perpetuate an inter-generational transfer of poverty. Poverty, comingled with high levels of unemployment and underemployment has led to an astonishing rise in crime, banditry, and kidnappings. Great dangers of leadership Sometimes leaders think all is well when it is not! One of the great dangers of leadership is to rely on others to tell you what is going on. Effective leaders must connect themselves. You can delegate tasks, but you cannot delegate your vision and responsibility. Transparency is the core of accountability. Citizens have the right to know. Today, therefore, there is a greater need for e-governance systems to enhance transparency and accountability to the people. That is people-centered governance. That is why the African Development Bank is developing a public service delivery index that will rate governments on the quality-of-service delivery for citizens. Participatory tax-based financing systems demand participatory governance. While tax rates are low in Nigeria compared to several African and non-African countries, this is not a justification to increase taxes. Norway's tax to GDP ratio is 39%. In Singapore, the tax to GDP ratio is 13.2%. Nigeria’s tax to GDP ratio is 6.1%. It is easy to make the comparison and say Nigeria needs to raise its taxes to similar levels as in Norway or Singapore. But in Norway, like all the Nordic countries, education is free through university. Singapore, a country that had 1/3 of Nigeria’s per capita income at its independence in 1965, has today 100% access to electricity and 100% access to potable water. Also think of the following: the per capita income of Norway is $68,000, while that of Singapore is $ 65,300. Nigeria’s per capita GDP is just $ 2,250. Taxes must therefore take income levels into consideration. The rich must pay more, but we cannot tax the poor to death. We must distinguish between nominal taxes and implicit taxes — taxes that are borne by the people but are not seen or re- Vanguard, THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 25, 2021 — 25 corded. Truth be told, Nigerians pay states focus on unlocking the huge one of the highest implicit tax rates resources they have, based on areas in the world. of comparative advantage, they will Many Nigerians provide rapidly expand wealth for their electricity for themselves via people. With their increased wealth generators; they repair roads in their they will be able to access capital neighborhoods, if they can afford to. markets to secure long-term There is no social security system. financing to fast-track their growth They provide security for their own and development. safety. They provide boreholes for States that adopt this strategy drinking water with their own monies. Governments simply transfer trips to Abuja for grants. would have less of a need for monthly their responsibility to citizens. When Instead, part of their federal governments or institutions fail to revenue allocations can be saved as provide basic services, the people internal ‘state sovereign wealth bear the burden of a heavy implicit funds’. This can then be used as tax. If people pay taxes, governments guarantees against borrowings from must deliver services. The public capital markets. service is the engine of government. Restructuring should not be driven The more efficient it is, the better by political expediency, but by government runs. The slower and economic and financial viability. more bureaucratic it is, the slower Economic and financial viability are governments deliver. Governments the necessary and sufficient conditions for political viability. should set high performance targets for public service and be held Surgeries are tough. They are accountable. better done well, the first time. The Tangible delivery resources found in each state or state If the people do not see tangible groupings should belong to them. delivery in terms of improved quality of services, they should demand federal taxes or royalties for those The constituent entities should pay for them. That is why the African resources. The achievement of Development Bank will support the economically viable entities and the development of public service delivery indices for state and federal gov- requires constitutional changes to viability of the national entity ernments in Nigeria. devolve more economic and fiscal There is an urgent need to diversify powers to the states or regions. The the source of financing for states stronger the states, or regions, the across Nigeria. Just take a look at stronger the federated units. In the the Nigerians in the diaspora and process, our union would be renewed. what they hold in resources. The value of remittances to Nigeria in 2019 of Nigeria, we could think of The Instead of a Federal Government was $24 billion. Compare that to the United States of Nigeria or The value of crude oil exports at $48 billion. Remittances to Nigeria ac- will pass away for the new. We would Commonwealth of Nigeria. The old counted for 50% of the value of crude change the relational mindset oil exports from Nigeria. between the states and Abuja: the It is clear: Nigerians in the diaspora are Nigeria’s new oil. State gov- the centre would support them, not fulcrum would be the states, while ernments should float diaspora lord over them. bonds targeting specific investments With good governance and better in their states. States can match the accountability systems, and a zero diaspora resources to finance infrastructure development. economically stronger constituent tolerance for corruption, more We need a better way of supporting States to finance critical infra- We would unleash massive wealth states would emerge! structure. While many roads are across the states. It would be a federal roads, the challenge is that commonwealth. Wealth for all, not they pass through state boundaries. wealth for a few. A New Nigeria The poor condition of some of the would arise! We will need all of us — Federal roads negatively affect the not some of us. From the flickers of economies of the states. The very fading longings of forgotten rural high cost of construction makes villages, to our boisterous and many of the roads too expensive for dynamic urban areas; from the the States. As a result, critical roads sparks of desire in the eyes of our take forever to complete. People in children, to the heartbeat of hope of the states do not care whether a road our youth; from the yearnings of our is a federal road or a state road. women and mothers, to the pride in They just need good roads. We must the heart of fathers for a better learn from others and deliver quality infrastructure, faster. For a com- that our end would be better than tomorrow, and the desires of the old parison, the Golden quadrilateral our past; from the hard-working road project, the largest in India, with street vendors and small businesses a length of 5,846 kilometers, with 4- to the largest business 6 express lanes, was started in 2001 conglomerates — we must create a and completed in 2012 — in just 11 movement of hope. Hope for a better years. The total cost? $13.2 billion Nigeria! Not a Muslim Nigeria. Not or $2.2 million per kilometre. In Nigeria, the East-West road, of only 337 Nigeria, Western Nigeria, or a Christian Nigeria. Not Eastern kilometres, is one that has been on Northern Nigeria, but one Nigeria - the books for decades. Originally estimated to cost N211 billion in 2006, A New Nigeria, powered by a New Nigeria. its cost has since risen to N349 torrents of hope, trust, equity, fairness, billion, with estimates that it may and wealth at every level, in every cost up to one trillion naira by the state ... by all and for all. We have the time the road is eventually capacity to do this and make it commissioned. happen. We must rise above mistrust For a 337 Km road, that is a cost and divisions and make history. Not of $2.7 billion or $8.1 million per the history that is written about us, kilometre. It’s been 14 years and the about Northern Nigeria, Eastern road is still not completed.This is also Nigeria, Western Nigeria; not the the case with the Lagos-Ibadan history of divisive political parties; express way, a road of only 128 but a new history that we commit to kilometers. It is time for governments write for ourselves - the history of a to strongly embrace the private New Nigeria — a nation where sector more strategically and majority prosper, not just a privileged transition into Public-Private few; a nation that provides real Partnerships for all major opportunities for the youth. A nation infrastructure projects. The Federal where equality of opportunities for government could also allow states women is a reality, not a dream. to own these roads by delegation. A nation known for wealth, not This will allow the states to support poverty. A nation set on a hill whose their construction by utilizing light will never be hidden. A New development finance institutions to Nigeria that we all are proud to call provide cheaper sources of finance home. So, help us God! May the to complete these roads. same God bless you, Your Excellency, I am delighted with the progress Governor Akeredolu. Thank you Nigeria is making of recent on very much. God bless you all. railways. The recent launch of the Speech Delivered By Dr Akinwumi A. Adesina, President, Afri- InfraCo to mobilize 1 Trillion Naira for investment in infrastructure, can Development Bank Group, on under public-private partnership, is The Inauguration of His Excellency Rotimi Akeredolu, S.A.N, Exec- highly commendable. It will be the first such fund in Africa. This should utive Governor of Ondo State, February 23, 2021 Akure, Ondo State, help support infrastructure development across the states. If Nigeria
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