“Bad Governance Is Driving Away Investors” – Oby Ezekwesili

 Loading ...

The 2016 Excellence Awards hosted by the Abuja Chamber of Commerce and Industry [ACCI] on February 24, 2016 at the Ladi Kwali Conference Center of the Sheraton Hotel saw the topnotch investors and entrepreneurs along with top personalities of the political cadre in Nigeria in attendance. Among the many notable attendees was the former Education Minister and controversial activist in the person of Dr. Obiageli Ezekwesili – who was slated as the special keynote speaker at the event.

Dr. Obiageli Ezekwesili who took to the stage at about minutes after 8pm was greeted with a resounding round of applause which visibly stunned the former Education Minister into acknowledging that she had not gotten such rousing welcome in a longtime.

She began her address by delving into the rot in the Nigerian system and how it has threatened to derail any meaningful efforts put forth by well meaning business entities or groups looking to achieve or reward excellence.  she recalled how she was approached numerous occasions by nefarious groups looking to give her an award in the past – and how they would then require her to let go with large sums of money in return. “You all know that most of these awards are paid for“, she exclaimed while continuing that “most Nigeria politicians pay for awards to be given to them. You all know how it is done in Nigeria. Groups in Nigeria now use awards to raise funds.” She however excused ACCI as one of the exceptions.

Dr. Obiageli Ezekwesili who has been known to speak her mind without care for who’s ox is gored launched into a coated criticism of the current administrators of the country and Abuja in particular. She started with the question of why industries in Nigeria cannot achieve excellence when “we have roads, power supply, rail, manpower, and every other thing“?  Her answer pointed to lack of good governance and weak combat against corruption. “Lack of good governance is the cause for our current economic woes“. She pointed to bad policy decisions by policy makers as responsible for the ongoing exodus of business investors and foreign industries out of the country. “Policy makers must identify barriers blocking growth economic growth. They must provide the enablers to doing business in Nigeria and Abuja. They should not be the obstacles like they are presently“.

She continued to elaborate that the new administration at the Federal Capital Territory [FCT] is faced with a task that it must handle with intelligence and smarts. She cautioned that at the present rate, the investors in Abuja would be all gone before the end of the year. “The administrators must sit up“, she flared, adding that “if the administrators of the FCT are not careful, the businesses in Abuja will vacate Abuja. The FCT administrators must be part of the Excellence in order to breed the economy of Abuja.”  

Her remarks ended with an equally rousing applause.