Eminent Nigerians lament high cost of governance

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Eminent Nigerians on Wednesday condemned the high cost of governance in the country, warning that the development could lead to a system collapse.They spoke at a public lecture organised by the Ondo State Government to mark the third year anniversary of the Governor Olusegun Mimiko administration.Prof. Oladipupo Akinkugbe, Governor Peter Obi, Bishop Bolanle Gbonigi, ex-Governor Bamidele Olumilua, Chief Olu Falae, Prof Akin Mabogunje, Mrs. Ganiat Fawehinmi, Chief Wole Olanipekun, Dr Aliyu Hong, and Chief Oba Otudeko were among the speakers.The lecture titled, ‘Of stated goals and proven performance’, was delivered by Akinkugbe, a renowned professor of medicine and former Vice-Chancellor of the University of Ilorin and the Ahmadu Bello University.He lamented the high rate of corruption in the country, which according to him, cuts across all sectors in the three tiers of government. He attributed it to the non-allocation of appropriate resources to critical areas to aid development.Akinkugbe challenged the Presidency and state governments to lead by example by reducing, very drastically, the cost of running government in order to effectively reduce corruption.He commended Mimiko for implementing programmes and policies in the health, education, agriculture, urban renewal and provision of infrastructural facilities.He praise Ondo for its initiative in tackling maternal mortality, expressing the hope that its adoption by African countries would achieve the targeted reduction in maternal mortality rate by 2015.Anambra State Governor Obi, who was the Chairman of the occasion, noted that he had successfully cut funds which would have been used to pick bills of scores of governor’s entourage in a journey within or outside the country.He said, “I was told that we would spend N2m today to charter a helicopter from Awka to Akure for this occasion but I consider that to be outrageous. I decided that we would travel by road and we left 4:30am and we did not come late.“Also, the Federal Government sometimes ago, when Former President Olusegun Obasanjo was in power, sent contractor with a model for Presidential lodge that would cost N238m to me and asked us to provide it for a Presidential visit.“I consider that to be sheer waste of public funds and I had to vacate my official residence for the President and I settled for a hotel accommodation.”Obi said the problem of Nigeria will be half solved if Nigerians are unanimous in their condemnation of corruption, greed and sycophancy in the country.He described Mimiko as a national figure whose contributions to national issues were always fundamental at the Governors’ Forum.

Last words: Corruption is the major disease of the Nigerian economy/government.It however must be healed from within and of course the healing oil, must start pouring down from the Head...

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Simply Cheska.