By Stephen Adeleye
The Kogi Commissioner for Education, Science and Technology, Mr Wemi Jones, says Gov. Yahaya Bello is a futuristic leader with the capacity to bring the needed transformational development to Nigeria.
Jones stated this at the ”1st Chief Lecturer Inaugural Lecture Series” of Kogi State College of Education, Ankpa.
The theme of the event is: ”Global Economic Politics: An Anatomy of China’s Engagement in Nigeria (1971-2021).”
The commissioner congratulated the Chief Lecturer, Dr Ali Maji, for delivering a comprehensive lecture extracted from his decades of research on China’s engagement in Nigeria.
Jones aligned himself with the content of the lecture saying the problem facing Nigeria was her inability to produce a futuristic leader like Bello since independence.
According to him, looking at the country’s trajectory from independence till now, the same set of people have been managing Nigeria’s economy.
He stressed that there was a direct relationship between where Nigeria was before and where it is today.
The commissioner, therefore, appealed to all and sundry to ensure that there was a total break from the past.
“What we lack in this country is futuristic leadership, and it is already in somebody that is about to offer himself to fill the gap.
“It is a popular thing that we have a leader that is going to deliver this country, he is Alhaji Yahaya Bello,” he said.
Jones noted that Bello was the best candidate to reinvent Nigeria, adding that he was a young, energetic man who could strategise towards the most responsible and best possible future outcomes for Nigeria.
He commended the governor for his tremendous achievements in all aspects of the economy, particularly in the education sector.
Earlier, Maji said that the lecture was aimed at unveiling available statistics that would enable emerging young critical thinkers, scholars and tomorrow’s leaders to know the Chinese strategies for melting the economy of Nigeria as a pathway to colonising it.
The chief lecturer explained that between 1971 and 2021, China had virtually taken over every aspect of Nigeria’s economy using concessional loans and investments to the detriment of Nigerians.
He added that as of today, over 920 Chinese business holdings were in Nigeria mainly in lucrative sectors, such as oil and gas, telecommunications, and technologies, among others.
Maji said that there was the need for every patriotic Nigerian to be concerned about reversing the present trend before Nigeria would lose her sovereignty.
He, therefore, urged government to make conscious efforts to take the country back to the old days of domestic innovations through Public Private Partnership (PPP) to assist local investors.
He further advised government to desist from taking additional loans from China.
He noted that of over 64 countries that lost Chinese concession loan, 20 had gone distressed while eight were about to lose their sovereignty. (NAN)
