Amaechi Sets Standards For Public Officers

Rivers State Governor, Rt Hon Chibuike Rotimi  Amaechi, says educational qualification, professional competence, selflessness and honesty should be the criteria for holding public office.

Governor Amaechi said this in his presentation as a discussant on a panel discussion session titled, “Nigeria Meets The World”, during the 3rd Annual Africa 2.0 Leadership Symposium, with  the theme, “Coalition for sustained transformation,” in Lagos.

Represented by his Deputy, Engr. Tele Ikuru, Governor Amaechi, who is also the Chairman, Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF), regretted that  corruption walks the African continent and has continued to impede its development, stating that for the continent to move forward, African leaders must confront the menace head on.

“For one to be a priest, he has to swear to the oath of chastity, celibacy and ascetic lifestyle, so should political office holders swear  to honesty, selflessness, and upright conduct,” he pointed out, noting that “the problem we have is that most times, those who have no jobs or profession get into public office and they don’t know what to do”.

Earlier, co-discussant and governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Alhaji Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, said Nigeria’s potential for growth was overwhelming, urging her leaders to plug leakages in the polity that had continued to undermine her growth, lamenting that a lot of broken value chains were everywhere across every sector of the economy.

“It is important that we look at Nigeria not in terms of the problems she has but in terms of the potentials she has. Part of the process of developing this country is to recognise corruption as one of its problems and address it frontally,” Alhaji Sanusi explained, warning that “it is a dangerous  trend for the country to depend solely on oil,” calling on the international community to take advantage of the opportunities issues about Nigeria present”.

Speaking, Chapter Chairman, Africa  2.0 Nigeria and Chief Executive Officer, Sahara group, Mr Tonye Cole, said that the essence of the Africa 2.0 leadership initiative was to establish a connection between initiatives aimed at moving the continent forward with her youth and create a platform for Africans to realise their vision of remaking the continent, explaining that the choice of Nigeria as host for this year’s event was due to her increasing role in driving development peace and good governance across the continent.