*says the world cannot exist without Nigeria
By; PATRICK TITUS, Uyo
The Akwa Ibom State Governor, Mr Udom Emmanuel has expressed confidence that the vexing challenges stunting the growth of Nigeria will be surmounted, if someone who has leadership depth and genuine love for the country and its people emerges as president in the 2023 general elections.
Governor Emmanuel stated this while declaring open the Forum of Former Deputy Governors of Nigeria’s National Conference 2022 in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State on Tuesday.
The governor however, expressed delight that the fact that Nigerians already know the problems, has pointed to the hope of getting solutions, adding that, it would have been sad if there were not known as the country prepares to go to the polls in 2023.
“Issues confronting Nigeria are very surmountable. It would always take a leader to emerge somehow, somewhere, and things could change, and I believe in Nigeria, we know that this thing could change if in 2023, could emerge a leader who has the love for the people, who knows what to do, an action to take, and what to actually carry out, that’s all that we need, and this situation can be remedied.
“It would be a tale of woes if in 2023, we don’t even know we are in challenging times as a country. We are looking for a leader, not someone who is on self aggrandisement, not somebody that has sworn that when I come to the earth, I must be a president before I die.” Governor Emmanuel said.
Noting also that the challenging times are not only in Nigeria but globally, Governor Emmanuel attributed it to nature for human to learn some lessons and appreciate God whose power to make or destroy dwells.
“We are in challenging times, not only in Nigeria, but across the globe. Countries are trying to adjust and readjust, so many things are changing over night. How could we wake up one morning and hear a whole state is under water in Nigeria.
“It goes beyond human comprehension, but it is also a time for the whole world to come closer to the Almighty, because we must also appreciate the fact that the Almighty can one day determine that all the whole world can stay in the house and it happened in 2020, nobody could go outside. So we continue to exist in this challenging time.
“No matter what we do or say, challenging times did not start today, it started from the days of the old testament. What this teaches me is that God created the world of man to face challenges.
“As a people, we must realise that we are under a very challenging time, especially in this country. Never a time we’ve had this, a country that as we are sitting here, we don’t know by the first quarter of next year how people would move in this country because domestic airlines are almost extinguished, nobody can have anything to move again not to talk of foreign airline.
“Every country is tossing us left, right and centre. The most populous nation in Africa, the world cannot exist without Nigeria and a nation would wake up and say we are not giving visas to Nigerians. I believe the solution is on those that we would appoint to lead us. He stressed.
The governor who described the theme of the 2022 conference “Nation Building in Challenging Times” as apt, just as the cream of participants as people with wealth of experience, said that the decisions reached would be helpful towards efforts to address the teething challenges bewildering the country.
The Chairman on the occasion, Chief Kanu Agabi, SAN, in his speech, commended the former deputy governors for coming together to form the forum to contribute meaningfully to the development of the country.
“You have come together, out of the realization that the tenets of our country require radical change. You appreciate that we must make ourselves the agents of that change. You appreciate that if we fail to do our duty, no one is going to do it for us.
“It is a good thing that we continue to make these efforts at helping the nation to overcome the distresses and disasters that now befall us. We must unite, and I am happy that here in this hall, you have people from the North, from the East, the West, the South, together bonded by the fact that you are former deputy governors,
“Whether you are Fulani, Yoruba or Igbo, you have a bond and that bond has brought you together in Akwa Ibom State. That is the hope for our country.
“We are one people, and we are better off as we are, and my hope for this nation is that a day is coming when this nation will bring together the nations of Africa together, so we are talking about a United States of Africa. Divided, we cannot stand, united we stand,” he stated “We are definitely having problems but we can solve, and we have done better than other nations which came from dictatorship as we did. In 1999, we returned to civil rule, and we have survived very well since then.
“We are a good people, we are a competent nation, we are a nation of geniuses. We are very patient, very resilient, very intelligent, very hardworking. Of course we have a problem with leadership. It is very difficult to rule a nation like that but we can overcome even that and we proceed with hope. We are not to resort to methods of despair.” Chief Agabi stated.
