Nigeria Has Been Stagnant for So Long, It Is Time to Change – Obasanjo

Former President Olusegun Obasanjo on
Wednesday tasked political leaders to
adopt practical measures to accelerate
effective utilisation of human and natural
resources for sustainable development in
the country.
Obasanjo gave the challenge while speaking at
the maiden Jigawa Economic and Investment
Summit in Dutse.
The summit was organised by the state as part of
the activities to mark the 2013 Democracy Day
celebration.
The major highlight of the summit was to
encourage investment on agriculture,
information and communication technology
(ICT), solid minerals and small and medium
scale enterprises (SMEs).
Obasanjo said that Nigeria was endowed with
abundant natural and human resources, which
could be transformed to the social and economic
benefit of the people.
"Nigeria is a land of opportunities and it is
blessed with all it takes to develop, it has been
stagnant for so long, it is about time to change
these opportunities to actuality.
"There is no reason why we should not do that,
we must invest in education to save the larger
population of the country or else our population
will become a liability," he said.
The former president said that for Nigeria to
attain sustainable development, children must
be trained, educated and be skilled in every
sector to be self-reliant.
Obasanjo said it was necessary for the
government at all levels to adopt proactive
measures to translate the improvement recorded
on the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) to the
wellbeing of the people.
He explained that such improvement could be
translated to provide employment opportunities,
wealth creation and poverty reduction in the
society.
According to him, a conducive and friendly
business environment was necessary to attract
investment opportunities.
Obasanjo commended the state government for
its developmental stride in education, describing
it as vital tool for development.
In a speech, a member of British Parliament,
Lord Boateng, said it was good for the African
countries to address the problem of capacity
building and poor policies to attract investment.
"The challenge is to build capacity and
communicate a message to move sentiment to
strategy and turn dreams into reality,'' Boateng
said.
He said that for African states to attain
sustainable development, they must invest in
agriculture, education and infrastructure.