President of African Development Bank (AfDB), Akinwumi Adesina has noted that Nigeria’s poverty situation is unacceptable.
Gatekeepers News reports that Adesina on Saturday stressed that Nigerians deserve wealth and not poverty due to the abundant natural resources.
The AfDB boss spoke at the convocation lecture he delivered at the American University of Nigeria (AUN), Yola, Adamawa state capital.
“Nigerians deserve wealth, not poverty. For all the abundant wealth of natural resources, Nigeria’s poverty situation is unacceptable. Today, sadly, there are way too many poor people in Nigeria.
“The Government is implementing bold social programs to reduce the number of poor, through interventionist programs, but the fact of the matter is poverty is not just about money.”
Adesina stated that “there cannot and should not be a Nigeria for the rich, and another Nigeria for the poor.
“We must build one Nigeria, where every citizen has the right to a decent life.”
Gatekeepers News reports that he further stated that the nation’s diversity is its strength but can become divergence if it is mismanaged.
“Our diversity is not our problem. Diversity is our strength.
“But when mismanaged, diversity becomes divergence. Rather than unite, we become splintered, with each entity believing that, somehow, it is better without the other. We must manage diversity for collective good.
“Nigeria must learn from this experience and forge a new way of engaging among its diverse ethnic groups and religions.
“Nigeria must start managing its diversity for prosperity. We must drive for national cohesion, not ethnic nationalities.”
Adesina noted that “Nigeria is blessed with incredibly rich diversity: of people, of cultures, of religions, of mineral resources, oil, and gas, amazingly rich biodiversity, that should make us the envy of the world. We are blessed with abundantly diverse agro-ecologies, that should also make us a land of bountiful harvests with capacity to feed Africa.
“We are a religious nation, so we should understand that God loves diversity. The diversity of rich and brilliant colours that we see in our forests, oceans, seas, and in flora and fauna, reflect the beauty of the Creator.”
He further commended the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) idea, but lamented that the real test of “national service” was that it often revealed the lack of diversity.
According to him, after one year of service, the NYSC graduates are often not able to gain employment in governments where they served, simply because they are not indigenes of those States.
“That in itself, is an irony!” he added.
“The young graduates are strangers in their own country. A country they pledged to serve. opportunity is denied just because they were not born in those states! Even if they were born in those states, they are told to return to the States of their origin. Yet, their origin is Nigeria, not their States!”
