By Ikenna Osuoha
The Initiative for Leadership Development and Change (ILDC), a civil society organisation, has urged all six geo-political zones to utilise the new development commissions established under President Bola Tinubu’s administration to accelerate growth in their respective regions.
National President of ILDC, Chief Ugochukwu Nnam, gave the advice in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja on Wednesday.
Nnam, who commended Tinubu’s leadership ingenuity, said that he had given platforms for regional development through the creation of development commissions.
“I urge all the six geo-political zones to use their various development commissions to drive development of their respective zones.
“Each of them should use their comparative advantage like agriculture to produce what they eat and eat what they produce for their own development,” he said.
Nnam, who identified agriculture as a critical sector with the capacity to trigger economic sovereignty, said that agricultural vocation would not only put food on the tables of the youth, but increase internally-generated revenues (IGR) of every zone and country.
He recalled the economic competitions among all the regions in the First Republic, saying that these had resulted in economic sovereignty in those regions.
According to him, development commissions, as created by the president, will restore competitions for development among the zones.
Nnam, while bemoaning the dependence of some zones and states on federal allocations, said that such practice retards progress.
He called on all the geo-political zones to emulate the United States of America and China in promoting local content.
The ILDC boss, however, condemned the security challenges current bedevilling the country, stressing the need for patriotism and love for one another as panacea to the menace.
Nnam urged Nigerians to focus on the things that unite the country than the things that divide it.
He particularly condemned the rampant killings and kidnappings in the country, blaming it on lack of love for compatriots.
“These senseless killings ought not to happen if we cherish our nation and our brothers and sisters,” he said.
Nnam, however, warned the political class against using the situation to polarise the country.
“This is not time for religious or ethnic divisions, or blames but time to wear the toga of Nigeria first to overcome our challenges,” he said. (NAN)
Edited by ‘Wale Sadeeq
