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Obasanjo
deplores Igbo attitude to privatization
By
Chukwudi Achife,
Bureau Chief, Enugu
President
Olusegun Obasanjo has expressed concern over the apparent disinterestedness
of Igbo businessmen to the privatisation programme of the Federal Government.
In a
message to the three-day South East zonal forum on privatisation on Thursday,
the president said the poor attitude of the Igbo to the programme was
�paradoxical and totally inexplicable� given their enterprising spirit and
business acumen.
He said
available records showed that the South East zone that is associated with
entrepreneurship, inventiveness and commercial ingenuity was inexplicably
trailing other parts of the country in the privatisation exercise.
The
president, who was represented by his Special Assistant on Bureau of Public
Enterprises, Mr. Sunday Onu, said the forum was an indication of government�s
determination to encourage and persuade the South East businessmen to buy
into the reform agenda through active participation in the privatisation
programme.
He
challenged the participants at the forum to contribute meaningfully to the
deliberations and assist government to identify all inhibiting factors,
social obstacles and other constraints that might combine to hinder the full
involvement and participation of the zone in the privatisation exercise.
He said,
�I wish to express my deep concern with the discomforting reports of apparent
disinterestedness of Ndigbo in the privatisation programme. It is paradoxical
and totally inexplicable that the enterprising spirit and the business
acumen, hallmarks of Ndigbo, have not been brought to bear on the programme.�
He added
that the committed prosecution of the reform agenda has yielded quantifiable
results as evidence in the increased direct foreign investment, reactivation
and revitalisation of newly privatised enterprises as well as the noticeable
growth in the agricultural, banking and telecommunications sector of the
economy.
Obasanjo
added that more noticeable positive impact of the reforms would become more
evident when the mega sectors of the economy like power, oil and gas, solid
mineral and Nigerian Ports Authority undergo full restructuring.
The
Minister for Information and National Orientation, Chief Chukwuemeka Chikelu,
listed the advantages of privatisation as encouraging the spirit of
competition, curbing corruption and the looting of public enterprises. He
said the aim of privatisation was to systematically harness, synchronise and
harmonise the country�s economic and human resources and channel them to a
more purposeful and productive use.
�Such a
circumspective planning anchored on sound management will eliminate wasteful
spending of public funds,� he said.
The
minister said the transfer of public enterprises to the private sector was
the best way to curb corruption in public concerns and would also ensure a
better management of the enterprises and efficient utilisation of resources.
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