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…Nigeria Has The Potential to Become a Major Player in the Global Economy – Enugu State Deputy Governor Barr. Ifeanyi Ossai

…Nigeria’s Post Subsidy Economy not viable without combating corruption, nepotism – Ike Neliaku

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…We cannot have answers from outside, we must develop answers from inside – Msgr. Prof. Obiora Ike

…We must do away with the Japa Syndrome – Mr. Emeka Mba

Muna Chinedu, Enugu

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The President and Chairman of Council, Nigerian Institute of Public Relations (NIPR), Dr. Ike Neliaku, has stated that the anticipated Nigerian post subsidy economic recovery would be impossible without first combating corruption, nepotism and factoring the southeast in.

He said this in Enugu on Saturday, November 18, 2023 while delivering a lecture on “The Post Subsidy Economy – Exploring Bold Initiatives for Economic Recovery in Nigeria” at the third edition of the Frontier Discourse, an annual public lecture series and award organized by Pacesetter Frontier Magazine, an online and print magazine headquartered in Enugu, with coverage in Southeast, South-south, and the FCT.

While delivering the lecture, Ike Neliaku who was also a Senior Special Assistant to President Goodluck Jonathan did not hold back words in stating that fuel subsidy in Nigeria was a scam, however, he frowned at the abrupt way it was removed. Looking at the post-subsidy economic recovery, and the end of the hardship it has put the citizens through, he insisted that Nigeria must hold supreme, the rule of law, equity, justice, and fairness in its governance.

“Nigeria was never designed as a country that will succeed, but as a country that will keep falling, without failing. We were built in a way that through ethnicity, we will never focus on things common about us.

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“We must wake up, focus on things that make us one, we must shun nepotism and enthrone equity, justice, and fairness in our government system if we are ready to grow as a nation,” he said.

Touching on the fact that Nigeria had significant economic prosperity in the ‘80s, the NIPR President regretted that we had moved backwards due to corruption and nepotism, stressing that the harsh effect of the corrupt practices and irresponsibilities of the Nigerian leading elites is suffered by the citizens.

Speaking more on the way forward, Neliaku made it clear that there was a need for the country to engage in a total re-orientation of the nation’s moral and value system, create an enabling environment for the private sector to thrive, make all-inclusive policies, invest in the youths, fix infrastructure, especially roads, tap into our creative industry and solid mineral, without ever playing a blind eye to international conspiracies, among others.

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Earlier at the event, after HRH Eze Barr. Igwesi Obi Igwesi, one of the Royal Fathers of the day, broke Kolanut and prayed the event open, one of the co-chairmen of the event, Msgr. Prof. Obiora Ike, Professor of Ethics and Intercultural Studies, Godfrey Okoye University, Enugu, in his opening remarks, lamented how Africa and Nigeria has everything but imports everything, like palm oil.

While reminiscing on the past when Nigeria thrived on agriculture, with a flourishing economy until the discovery of crude oil, he said, unlike other nations that have crude oil, Nigeria’s crude was a curse, not a blessing.

He called on all citizens to be the change they want to see, saying that running abroad wasn’t the answer, “People have challenges, and stand up to face them, but for us, we japa. And that is what we are facing, that young people want to japa to the UK instead of facing our problem. We cannot have the answers from outside, we must develop the answers from inside.”

Mr. Emeka Mbah, a co-chairman at the event and CEO, Afia, laid more emphasis on the fact that the japa syndrome must be stopped, calling on the youth population of Nigeria, which he said was about 70% of the nation’s total population, the greatest resource the country has.

He enjoined the leaders to do things to bring the youths out of the state of hopelessness that fuels the japa syndrome.

“It’s a big problem, a danger if the largest part of your population live without hope, live with a sense of despair. We must think about what to do to give our young people a sense of hope so that the japa syndrome can end. I have hope in the young people, in Nigeria, in the South East.”

The Deputy Governor of Enugu State, Barr. Ifeanyi Ossai, who was represented by Dr. Solomon Ejim, in his speech, recognized the fact that the economy is in bad shape, but held up a light to the path of hope, as he shared the government’s plans to grow the economy, through industrialization, MSME, agriculture, technology, to make markets function better, and others, by “Stabilizing the macroeconomic environment, achieving agriculture and food security, ensuring energy sufficiency, improving transportation infrastructure, and focusing on (the growth) of Small and Medium Scale Enterprises, SMEs.”

The Chief Guest of Honour for the event, Sen. Adolphus Wabara Ph.D, a former Senate President of Nigeria, represented by Dr. Friday Ogbuede harped on the need to diversify the economy, address infrastructure, education, and skill development, while making policies that would not leave vulnerable citizens out.

According to the CEO and Chairman of the Pacesetter Frontier Magazine, Prince Onochie Jon-Igwesi, he stressed that the media outfit will continue to do her part in engaging in activities and discussions that add to the growth of our society, our polity, economy, social development, among others, reiterating the desire to have Frontier Discourse as an emerging platform for dissecting national issues, holding quality discussions and qualitative interrogation of contemporary issues in Nigeria’s development.

Among the fascinating aspects of the Third Frontier Discourse Annual Public Lecture Series and Awards was the commemoration of the 74th Anniversary of the Enugu Coal Miners Massacre, which saw Ozo Ferdinand Anikwe give an expose on what happened and how it happened.

He explained how the shooting of the 21 Enugu coal miners because they asked for a pay increase helped to intensify the quest for independence of 1960, while frowning at the fact that the massacre happened just a year after the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948, adopted by the same Britain whose officials carried out the shooting, thereby violating the same declaration they signed.

The lecture witnessed the presentation of awards to some prominent Nigerians that have achieved outstanding feats in their respective fields of endeavour, or in a particular course.

The lecture had in attendance elites, politicians, members of the academia, captains of industries and business persons, media practitioners, students from various schools and institutes in Enugu and the general public.