Bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Sokoto, Matthew Hassan Kukah, has said that achieving excellence in Nigeria is difficult due to ethno-religious schism that often hinders effective allocation and utilization of natural resources for the greater benefit of the people.
The revered clergyman stated this in a keynote address he delivered at the 4th Amaka Ndoma-Egba Memorial Lecture themed, “Leaders of Tomorrow: Creating Lasting Change in a Complex World”, held in Abuja, Nigeria at weekend.
According to him, “Leaders must understand the nature of the resources that are available. But unfortunately for us in Nigeria, the resources that we have we are unable to make use of them because we are focusing on ethnicity, religion, gender and other differences. This is why it is increasingly difficult to talk about excellence in Nigeria. So if you are thinking about a complex world to which you are going to be able to compete, then you must do more than what we are doing now.”
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Also speaking, former Senate Leader, Senator Victor Ndoma-Egba, said there was need to prioritize education in Nigeria by way of adequate provision of funding. He emphasized that natural resources alone cannot make a country, but the children, young men and women who themselves become resources when they are educated, skilled and empowered.
Ndoma-Egba lamented that “a situation situation where schools are put together with nightclubs in a band called Band A for electricity does not make sense. If the school goes to the bank to borrow money it borrows at 37 percent, the same interest rate that alcohol importers will borrow. We must emphasize and prioritize education.”
Continuing, the former lawmaker noted that “when Amaka passed on the challenge was to sustain her legacy. A group of our very close friends came together and said together they will sustain the legacy. And the group of friends now became the Advisory Board for Start Right School.
“Let me use this opportunity to thank Mrs Helen Oru, Justice Folashade Ojo, justice of the Court of Appeal, Hajia Mairo Ibrahim, Aisha Dagash, our infantry general, Prince Aluta, Loretta Akpoke, the first head of this school, who started this school with just one child. And most importantly, Dr (Mrs) Nelly Ogboru. Nelly Ogboru and her late husband, General Ogboru were the first parents of this school.”