By Bisi Bamishe
Former Chief of Army Staff, Lt Gen Tukur Buratai, has sought support for the administration of President Bola Tinubu to deliver the reforms in the power sector as well as his other reform programmes for the benefit of Nigerians.
In a message delivered at the 8th Annual Conference of Guild of Corporate Online Publishers (GOCOP) in Lokoja, Kogi State on Thursday, Buratai said that providing effective solutions to the myriads of problems in the power sector would encourage investors to Nigeria.
Buratai, who was represented by Dr Mohammed Sam Abubakar, his Special Adviser on Research and Development, said he was optimistic that the President would get his new cabinet to transform the power sector.
Commenting on the theme of the conference titled, Nigeria: Tackling Insecurity, Power Deficit And Transitioning To Digital Economy, he said it was relevant to Nigeria as it confronts insecurity that undermines social security.
He therefore suggested commitment to innovations essential to drive the collective course of the Nigerian nation. “We must use technology as catalysts to generate meaningful progress,’’ he said, adding, ‘Nigerians should support President Tinubu to deliver’’.
He said unless the present administration tackles the problem of miscreants destroying power holding infrastructures in certain parts of the country, such unwholesome practices could spread to the other parts of the country.
Meanwhile, Prof Rotimi Ajayi of the Department of Political Science, Federal University Lokoja , one of the panelists at the conference, said insecurity, power deficit and transitioning to digital economy are all related in terms of causative factors as well as the solutions to them.
But he said one thing that has been missing in the analysis of Nigeria’s problems is the question of leadership. While explaining that the governance process is faulty, he noted that this is also not about corruption alone but a combination of many factors.
“When I look at the configuration of the Nigerian population, the least thing that bothers them is digital education, they just want to eat and have access to their farms, so tackling the issue of insecurity is key and this rests solely on leadership,’’ he said.
“Nigeria no longer has followers; the citizens have become slaves. Unfortunately, people think access to government is an opportunity to bring home government resources,’’ he said.
He therefore urged online publishers to interrogate the governing process and ensure that the society does not only punish corruption but kicks against anything that glorifies it. “This will lay the foundation for insecurity not to thrive,’’ he explained.
