Former President of
United States of America, Bill Clinton, said yesterday in Abeokuta, Ogun State
capital, that the inability to manage the nation’s natural resources well was
one of the three major challenges Nigeria was facing as a nation.
The former US president, who was speaking at the
18th Annual Awards of Thisday newspaper, organised to celebrate Nigeria’s best
teachers, further tasked Nigerian leaders to tackle unemployment, brain-drain
and to maximise the potential of the citizens.
The 42nd American President, who spoke in the
presence of former Nigerian President, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, Ogun State
governor, Ibikunle Amosun, his counterpart in Delta, Emmanuel Uduaghan and
other notable Nigerians, said Nigerian leaders mismanaged the proceeds from oil,
under-utilised technology and failed to retain its best brains.
Clinton said: “When I became President, my
Secretary of Commerce did a lot of work in Africa before he was tragically
killed in a plane crash in 1995.
“I said he should make a list of 10 most important
countries in the world for the 21st century. Nigeria was in the list.
“Imagine the future of the entire continent if
Nigeria fails or South Africa fails. So, you are a country of potential. I will
say you have about three big challenges.
Oil money, economic distribution, brain-drain
“First of all, like 90 percent of the countries,
which have one big resource, you haven’t done well with your oil money. You
should have reinvested it in different ways. Now you are at least not wasting
the natural gas. You are developing it in pipelines but you don’t do a better
job of managing natural resources.
“Secondly, you have to somehow bring economic
opportunity to the people who don’t have. This is not a problem specific to
Nigeria. Almost in every place in the world, prosperity is heavily concentrated
in and around urban areas.“So you have all these political problems: violence,
religious differences, and all the rhetoric of Boko Haram.
“But the truth is the poverty rate in the north is
three times greater than what it is in the Lagos area. To deal with that, you
have to have both powerful stake in the local governments and a national policy
that work together.
“As you keep trying to divide the power, you have
to figure out a way to have a strategy that will help in sharing prosperity.
“The third thing is there has to be a way to take
the staggering intellectual and organisational ability that Nigerians exhibit
in every country in the world in which they are immigrant and bring it to bear
here, so that the country as a whole can rise.
“One of the people on my trip with me today, who
unfortunately could not come up here because he had to go and visit his family,
is a young Nigerian-American named Nnamdi. He is an all pro-quarter back
footballer for the Philadelphia Eagles.
“He’s a wonderful man; he does great work in
America for poor kids in Arkansas City and he became a friend of mine.
“Both his parents have PhDs. His sister has a PhD.
He often says ‘I’m the failure in my family and I only have a university degree
and I play football.’
“My point is: there are Nigerians who are like this
all over the world. What you have to figure out is how to keep those people in
Nigeria and how to ensure their success encourages others in the country.
Solutions
“So, I think solving the economic divide that is in
your country will help the political divide; making better use of your
resources.
“Nigeria is trying to set up an investment fund
where the Federal Government will set it up and the governors are being
consulted so that they can concentrate the capital. That is the problem in
India.
“They have unbelievable entrepreneurs but they are
not very good at collecting capital and investing it in infrastructure so that
they can unite the poor part of the country with the rich part. That’s what you
have to do. And then, you have to empower people with education so they can
succeed at home as well as around the world.”
Obaigbena speaks
Speaking earlier, Editor-in-Chief and Chairman,
Thisday, Nduka Obaigbena explained that the choice of Abeokuta as the venue for
the 18th edition of the award was made by Clinton due to the presence of
Presidential Library.
According to him, Delta, Port Harcourt and Abeokuta
were the options presented to Clinton as the venue before Abeokuta was chosen
by the ex-American President.
He eulogised eminent media personalities present,
including former governor of the state, Chief Olusegun Osoba, the Chairman and
Publisher of Vanguard newspapers, Mr. Sam Amuka, among others.
Obaighena disclosed that 15 best teachers were
selected by a panel headed by Vice President World Bank (Africa) and former
Minister of Education, Mrs. Oby Ezekwesili, from 700 nominees.
Awardees
Those who bagged the Builder of Modern Nigeria
awards were Oba Otudeko; professor of musicology, Laz Ekwueme; deposed Sultan,
Alhaji Ibrahim Dasuki; Osile of Oke-Ona, Oba Adedapo Tejuoso, and Chief Rasak
Okoya.
The 15 best teachers, who received N2 million each,
were Mrs Victoria Jolayemi, Mrs Dorothy Ugwu and Mrs Christie Ade-Ajayi, for
primary school category.
For secondary category, Rev. Father Angus Frazer,
Chief D.B.E. Ossai, Mrs Yakubu Dimka, Chief Reuben Majekodunmi, Chief Dotun
Oyewole, Mrs. John O. B. Adeaga, Mr. Bawa Mohammed Faskari and Hadiza Thani
Muhammed were honoured as best teachers.
In the universities category, Prof. Iya Abubakar,
Prof. Frank Ugiomoh, Prof. Michael Obadan and Prof. Eunice Nkiruka Uzodike,
were given award.
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