By Harry Awurumibe,Editor Abuja Bureau
The President and Chairman of Council, Nigerian Institute of Management (Chartered), Dr. (Mrs.) Christiana Atako, has said that her organisation believes that if deliberate and concerted effort is made by the government of the day towards providing good governance, Nigeria will be in the part of progress.
This is even as she posited that if the leaders with the right qualities are in elected and appointed offices, the post-election economic outlook of the Nigeria will be favourable and the nation would have strengthened the belief of the citizenry in electoral processes, pointing out that this will in turn deepen the nation’s nascent democracy.
Atako who stated this in her opening address at the Institute’s Corporate Members’ Forum which took place on Thursday, April 6, 2023 at Management House, Victoria Island, Lagos, disclosed that the Forum was organised as a value-added service to the Corporate Members of the Institute who were not only the founding members of the Institute but also its major providers and benefactors.
Said she: “the Forum provides a platform for the Institute to interact directly with its corporate members as well as for them to interact with one another, compare notes, network, and exchange ideas on contemporary issues of common interest”
According to her, “due to the importance we attach to this Forum, the Institute painstakingly sought out a befitting guest speaker, Dr. Ayo Teriba, Chief Executive Officer, Economic Associates, who is a renowned Economist and respected public analyst, to speak on the theme of the Forum, “Nigeria’s Post-Election Economic Outlook”.
Speaking further on the Forum the NIM (Chartered) boss explained that: “the general election have come and gone but the after effect still reverberates on the nation’s economy. Without doubt, the electioneering campaigns leading up to the elections overheated the polity especially the economy.
“It was observed that to woo the electorates, most of the politicians employed religious and ethnic sentiments instead of addressing issues that they intend to embark on to help to stimulate and stabilise the economy.
She however said that; “To ensure a stable post-election economy and quickly set the nation on the path of development and growth, government at all levels must put deliberate policies in place aimed at putting good governance at the disposal of the electorates.
“This would mean embarking on socio-economic programmes that will improve the standard of living of long-suffering Nigerians who have been on the throes of hardship over the years due to less-than-desirable government policies.
“The Nigerian electorates have long yearned for good governance and it will not be out of place if the government of the day makes it a point of duty to deliver the dividends of democracy to the governed once they come to power.
“The dividends of democracy can only trickle down to the electorates not just by putting the people-friendly policies in place but also by ensuring that they are implemented to the letter for the benefit of the common man whom they are targeted at.
“Provision of basic infrastructure as well as institution of programmes aimed at empowering the masses especially in the area of entrepreneurship as well as small and medium enterprises (SMEs), will not only help to drive the economy but are also at the root of genuine efforts by any government to foster good governance.
“These and many more such efforts should be pursued by government in the next democratic dispensation. There is no gainsaying that great leadership begets good governance. This goes to say that it takes leaders with the right leadership skills and values to provide good governance because one cannot give what one does not have.
“Therefore, I dare say that only men and women of integrity, accountability, probity, fairness, effectiveness, efficiency and transparency which are some of the values the Institute shares and practices fit the bill. These are the values needed in the nation’s leaders to make the much-needed difference in governance”, Atako submitted.
Also, NIM Chartered President used the forum to invite participants to the Institute’s upcoming programme, saying “before I conclude, let me use this opportunity to invite you to this year’s Women in Management and Leadership (WIMLEAD) Conference of the Institute holding in Chris Abebe Hall, Management House, Plot 22, Idowu Taylor Street, Victoria Island, Lagos on the 19th and 20th July, 2023. It would be appreciated if you sponsor your female staff to attend this flagship of women conferences focusing on the theme, Building Alliances and Strategic Relationships”.
Meanwhile, in his Lecture Paper titled: “How 2023 Elections Will Reshape Nigeria’s Future 1”, Teriba said in summary one of the most spectacular developments in the 2023 presidential election is that a prominent leader of the democratic struggle is set to get a first bite at the presidential cherry, after emerging as President-Elect from the Presidential Election of February 25, 2023, after a twenty-four year wait since the return to democratic rule in 1999.
He argued that:
“Four of the past six elections crowned rebranded former military rulers, and two crowned their handpicked successors, while leaders of the democratic struggle had to manage parties and parliament, with no influence over the president”.
The respected Economist said this is the first time that a party will control both the presidency and the parliament since 1999, adding that
this and other outcomes should create new dynamics that would reshape Nigeria’s future.
Said he: “a retrospective assessment of the extent to which the legitimacy secured at elections have translated to effectiveness in delivering economic outcomes provides a premise for evaluating how outcomes of 2023 election could reshape Nigeria’s future”.
