President of ASCSN, Comrade Bobboi Kaigama, who spoke to Tribune during the National Executive Council (NEC) meeting of the Union held in Abuja noted that there was a great hope and expectations at Nigerian independence; with the entire African Continent looking up to the country for leadership and sense of direction.
He pointed out that the focus on Nigeria by all and sundry was not because of her size but the combination of human and material resources God has endowed it with.
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Unfortunately, Comrade Kaigama regretted that all these have not translated into meaningful progress for the country due to a combination of factors; which include poor leadership, lack of vision and mismanagement of resources.
“We seem to have lost so many years as we keep on wobbling and fumbling with recent statistics indicating that Nigeria is at the bottom of the table in terms of Human Development index.” The ASCSN President said.
He added: “It is apt to note that this negative trajectory of the country has led to high level of unemployment, especially among the youth, leading largely to excruciating poverty and deteriorating standard of living.
“The end results of this ugly scenario are explosion in violent conflicts, militancy, insurgency, armed robbery and kidnapping, all of which have assumed worrisome dimensions in intensity and magnitude.”
To address this situation, he emphasized that economic diversification holds the key to the emergence of a robust economy capable of creating jobs and reducing poverty and unemployment.
He advised the government at all levels to articulate and implement an economic blueprint for the diversification of the economy by leveraging sectors such as agriculture, manufacturing, hospitality, tourism and ICT to boost productive activities and revenue generation and thereby reduce insecurity.
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