Nigeria’s economic crisis may persist as long as the right professional persons are not put in charge of critical tasks and government units.
This is the verdict of top professionals that are meeting in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, under the auspices of the Association of Professional Bodies of Nigeria (APBN) starting Wednesday, March 24, 2021.
Emma Wike, national president of Nigerian Institute of Estate Surveyors and Valuers (NIESV), who is the local organizing committee chairman of the APBN for Port Harcourt presidential retreat 2021, acknowledged that the Federal Government is currently carrying out a series of reforms across all sectors of the economy.
“It is expected that this step will enhance efficiency in the economy, with the government probably becoming less bogus, less bloated, less corrupt and more efficient,” Wike said in his welcome address at a dinner event to kick-start the retreat.
“To further boost the national diversification agenda, the government has channelled several billions of oil revenue into sectors of the economy such as security, agric, infrastructure (especially oil sector infrastructure) and power,” he said.
He, however, said these commendable initiatives would not achieve desired results if the FG failed to effectively partner the stakeholders, particularly the professionals, in its bid to build a strong, virile, stable and sustainable economy.
He said the theme for the retreat, “APBN as a Tool for Sustainable National Development in Nigeria: Filling the Strategic Gap”, finds relevance in these efforts.
“The missing link in our value system which is partly or wholly responsible for underdevelopment in Nigeria is our failure to do the right things and/or do things the right way. It is a disheartening and miserable trend that outstandingly defines our age. How can we build the nation, the infrastructure, and the economy without fully engaging the professionals who are trained with relevant skills and competences in different areas of endeavours?” Wike queried.
“These are the critical issues the retreat in 2021 in Port Harcourt would squarely deal with. The year’s retreat would look at providing the right environment for brainstorming in order to come out with strategic initiatives to tackle the economic challenges facing the nation. It is also to position the professionals as strategic partners with the government in revamping the economy and setting it on a sustainable path,” he said.
In a dinner lecture, Chizindu Alikor, a professor of cardiovascular medicine and a consultant physician and cardiologist, raised the alarm about the rising incidence of sudden deaths.
He said many persons die in the office, at home, in the bathroom, etc. Most professionals want to get ahead and often neglect their health conditions, thus diabetes and high blood pressure sneak in. Many professionals now die of stress disorders, he said.
The professor made it clear there is the need for professionals to pay attention to their heart conditions as well as to their health. This is because a good heart is critical for national development.
On whether alcohol was good or bad for the heart, he emphatically said it is harmful to the heart and also damages the kidney.
“Alcohol can destroy the heart,” he said.
He also wondered if professional life is not negative to lifestyle because most professional and career mothers seem to abdicate their kitchen duties to fast food centres.
“Noodles are not good. Childhood cardiovascular disease starts from lifestyle; fast food, bugger, etc. Cuddling your children with wrong foods such as noodles, juices, etc is bad. Some countries have banned juices for kids at school,” Alikor said.
“Diabetes type 1 starts early in life such as in one-year-olds but type 2 starts late in life. What we do to our hearts has a link to what we do to our health and this leads to what we do to the health of the nation. Only healthy nationals and professionals can develop a nation,” he said.
