Nigeria’s former President, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, on Thursday expressed concern over the level of unemployment and poverty in the country.
The ex-President said such situation was fueling restiveness and youth unrest in the country.
Some of the top dignitaries who attended the summit were Deputy Senate President, Chief Ike Ekweremadu, ex-Vice President Alex Ekwueme, Governors of Abia, Enugu and Ebonyi, Deputy Governors of Anambra and Imo States.
President Muhammadu Buhari was not in attendance despite the media hype that he was scheduled to visit Enugu for the summit.
Obasanjo in his speech declared: “What we need to do here is to find out how we can use what we have; people of the South-East are unique and that uniqueness must be used to advantage.
“If you want to walk a long distance, walk together; if we have been walking alone, let us walk together to be able to go far.
“Each of the States has something unique, you have land, unique people, what are we making of it. The South-East can be the food basket of the nation.”
“We have a challenge of youth restiveness, youth unrest, which is understandable because these are graduates without jobs, today without tomorrow, so we must expect agitation from them.
“But must we leave them? No! We cannot leave these children alone, we must take up the responsibility”, he declared, while further noting that with much collaboration, Nigeria would achieve ‘Zero Hunger.’
Chief Obasanjo further noted that the economy and security were
two sides of a coin and none could be realized without the other.
“Whatever we can do for ourselves let us do it for ourselves. If I could go to Maiduguri when Boko Haram was ranging and I had to try to reach out to them in the interest of the country, I do not think I
have to be eulogized for being part of the initiative for Southeast summit”, he added.
the zone with a view to finding lasting solutions to them.
Ugwuanyi noted, “The events in both economic and security sectors complement rather than impede or oppose one another in the development trajectory of the region and the nation at large.
“We believe that given the socio-economic interconnectivity and
interdependence of all parts of the country, it will be more than apt
to say that, the successful and timely resolution of security and
economic challenges of the Southeast -a region so richly endowed with
abundant natural resources, human capital and copious industrial and
commercial potentials- will impact tremendously and positively on the
rest the country, he added.”
Both former Secretary-general of the Commonwealth of Nations,
Chief Emeka Ayaoku and Professor Barth Nnaji agreed that for Nigeria
to overcome some of its major challenges, the peculiar and most
teething problems of the various component part of the country should
be identified and addressed.
Professor Nnaji, a former Minister of Power and Chairman of the Southeast Economic and Security Summit group stated that the summit was intended to produce a generic model of regional development in which
the people of the region were also very active players and which was
devoid of politics and ethnic coloration.
“Such a plan should address the infrastructural needs of the South-East and thus facilitate and enhance economic integration of every sub-region in Nigeria.
“Most of the Federal roads in southeast
are in total state of disrepair. A few that are fairly useable today were fixed by the state government out of their meager resources which the Federal Government is yet to pay back”, he stated.
Among other issues listed was Enugu International airport, Owerri cargo airport, standard gauge railway line in southeast and industrial development of southeast, industrial free zone.
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