…hails Tinubu on National Values Charter
A former Akwa Ibom State Governor Obong Victor Attah has said citizens needed to stop destroying the country’s image any further after the 2023 elections, adding that necessary steps should be taken to correct all perceived wrongs and reconcile all aggrieved parties.
He said the elections left Nigeria with a badly damaged image, exacerbated by insecurity, corruption, and lack of basic infrastructure, among others, saying that it was time for total reconciliation and repositioning of the country’s image and collaboration for good governance.
Obong Attah spoke at the weekend at the 2024 Investiture ceremony of the Institute of Certified Sales Professionals (ICSP) held at the Airport Hotel, Ikeja, Lagos.
The former governor whose lecture was entitled: “The imperatives of selling Nigeria to the outside world in the post-2023 national elections era” stressed the need to sell Nigeria to Nigerians first through patriotic zeal, determination to reconcile aggrieved parties, and developing a national core value shared by all.
Attah hailed President Bola Tinubu on the intention to launch a National Values Charter which according to him would benefit all citizens.
He said: “Selling Nigeria in the aftermath of the 2023 elections is not by any means an easy job. As has been shown, our actions and utterances that led up to the elections and have since continued after the elections, have left us with two major strikes. The first is that we have a gravely damaged product and the second is that our number one salesman, the president has been badly disabled. But we must not give up.”
Obong Attah said the country’s economic fortunes started dwindling with excessive dependence on crude oil and disregard for agriculture.
He said as global demand for basic raw materials grew, Nigeria’s output declined in both quantity and quality, thus leaving billions of foreign exchange for other countries.
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He added: “The attempt to start exporting yams during Buhari’s first term ended in failure essentially because the quality of the yams was impaired by the time the consignment arrived at its destination.”
The former governor said Nigeria lost its competitive business edge as the largest producer of cassava in the world, and among the top nations exporting palm produce, cocoa, groundnuts, hides, and skin, because there was no strategic plan, consistency, and the will to provide what the world wants.
He therefore, harped on the need for effective execution of policies, political will, quality leadership, and proper training to turn the fortunes of the nation around and sell Nigeria to the world.
President of ICSP, Arthur Ozoigbo, described salesmen as resilient, productive, and goal-oriented despite the dangers they go through. He promised to work assiduously to ensure the institute remains active.
Frontline columnist and Chief Patron of the institute, Dr Dele Sobowale stressed the need to sell Nigeria to the world in a professional way, adding that the country needs to be repositioned with everyone working collectively.
2023 Poll: Why We Must Not Destroy Nigeria’s Image Further, By Ex-Gov Attah
