From Femi Folaranmi. Yenagoa
President of the Ijaw National Congress (INC), Prof. Benjamin Okaba, has urged Nigerian professionals to monitor the conduct of their members, collaborate with the government and actively participate in politics.
He also admonished them to demand accountability from public officials, organise training programmes, as well as set up professional clubs in primary and secondary schools across the country.
Okaba who is a professor of sociology at the Federal University Otuoke gave the admonition while delivering the keynote address at a retreat organized by the Association of Professional Bodies of Nigeria (APBN), with the theme: “Contemporary Challenges in Nigeria: The Response of Professionals.”
While insisting that Nigeria’s challenges are multifaceted, Okaba highlighted bad governance, weak institutions, lack of a sense of nationhood and ethical decadence as some of the predominant problems bedevilling Nigeria.
The INC helmsman bemoaned that after 63 years of independence, the productive base of the Nigerian economy remains weak, narrow and highly externally oriented, making the country rely largely on importation to meet the basic needs of the citizens.
“Nigeria can, and will, get better. The challenges are not unprecedented, nor are they insurmountable. The solution lies in our attitude, aptitude and the little things we do to make ends meet.
“We should be conscious of the challenges and their implications for ourselves and this nation as well as embrace and be drivers of positive change in our individual homes, offices and other spheres of influence.”
He appealed to professionals in the country to support the present government led by President Bola Tinubu to bring sanity into the polity, especially at the grassroots.
The INC President pointed out the need for local government areas to regain their fiscal and administrative autonomy as was the case before 1999.
“We must embrace a well-coordinated community policing system and other principles of restructuring for there lies the magic wand that will reposition this country for greater unity and prosperity,” he averred.