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| Dr Obiageli Ezekwesili |
Former
Minister of Education Dr Obiageli Ezekwesili has urged President Muhammadu
Buhari to pardon soldiers convicted of mutiny in the fight against Boko Haram.
Ezekwesili,
coordinator of the #Bring Back Our Girls group, said the soldiers were wrongly
punished for refusing to fight the insurgency ill-equipped.
Delivering a
keynote address: “A Caring Society Grows Faster and Better”, at the launch of
the Bunmi Adedayo Foundation in Lagos yesterday, Mrs Ezekwesili said the
diversion of the funds was a demonstration of how leaders and citizens exhibit
‘I don’t care’ attitude towards governance.
She said:
“The exemplification of a society of ‘I don’t care’ could not have been worse
in manifestation than revelations that while the tragedy went on in the
Northeast, those responsible for governance sat around the table, watched
citizens being taken out by the bunions of terror and felt comfortable to share
the resources meant to equip the soldiers and then turned around and said to
those among the soldiers that refused to be sent on a suicide mission that they
deserved to die.
“How else can
you define ‘I don’t care’? I hope you will join me in telling the President
that those soldiers don’t deserve to die. Our President must use the
prerogative of mercy that the constitution gives him to waive any kind of
charges against those ones, we are not saying all soldiers; because some may
have misbehaved in the course of this war. But we are saying that it is
reprehensible that our society will degenerate to the level where leaders, who
as are found in other societies, stay awake worried about the challenges of
their citizens, in our own case, stayed awake sharing the resources meant to
protect the territory and the people.”
Mrs.
Ezekwesili explained to a packed hall of dignitaries, friends and family of Mr
and Mrs Adekunle Adedayo, owners of Tastee Fried Chicken, gathered at the Shell
Hall of the MUSON Centre why Nigeria had been unable to achieve development
milestones recorded by countries, such as Botswana, Singapore and China.
She said the
combination of three factors: right policies, institutions and efficient and
effective investments, together with the leadership helped these nations to
move from Third World to middle class and First World economies.
The former
Minister of Solid Minerals said Botswana, which depended largely on aid after
getting independence in 1966, turned around its economy when it discovered
diamond using those factors properly; Singapore used them to transform into a
First World country; while China was able to lift 600 million citizens, three
times the population of Nigeria, out of poverty in three decades.
“Botswana was
an aid dependent country. In fact, 95 per cent of its budget used to be through
donor support and one day, Botswana discovered diamonds, just as one day in
Oloibiri, Nigeria discovered black gold, called oil. Botswana, however, got its
combination right: It had sound policies, strong institutions and effective and
efficient investment,” she said.
With over 100
million Nigerians living below poverty line, she said Nigeria’s economic growth
had not positively impacted the majority of its citizens and underscored the
need for strategic planning for economic development encompassing the right mix
of the three factors and a commitment to caring about what happens in the
society.
By
establishing the foundation to cater for the educational needs of the less
privileged, Mrs Ezekwesili praised the Adedayos for showing that they care
about governance and are contributing their quota.
“That is why
I pay great tribute to the Adedayos because the single most important tool of
social economic mobility is the development of a world-class human
capital. Through education you change the circumstances of the
individual. Through health care that keeps citizens productive, you
change the productivity level of your citizens. This combination of health and
education and the impact that it has had on these other societies I have told
you about today is not rocket science,” she said.
Dignitaries
present included: Chief launcher Mrs Daisy Danjuma, who gave N5 million;
Co-launcher Justice George Oguntade (N2 million); Mr Foluso Philips of Philips
Consulting; Alhaji Abdulrasaq Okoya, chairman of Eleganza Group; Mrs Abike
Dabiri-Erewa, member of BAF Foundation BOT; among others.
Bunmi Adedayo
was the only child of the TFC family, who died on September 25, 2013. He
dedicated his life to children – organising Christmas programmes for the less
privileged in schools and hospitalS, talent hunt and spelling bee.
Source: The Nation
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