Kalu lists ways to national greatness
From Gordi Udeajah, Umuahia
FOR Nigeria to take its prime position in the comity of nations, the twin evils of violence and ethnicity must be done away with, Abia State Governor, Orji Uzor Kalu, has said.
Kalu, who spoke in Florida, United State (U.S), said he believed in the unity and indivisibility of the country.
In an address titled "Charting a Sustainable Course for Igbo Unity", Kalu, who was a guest of the Igbo Cultural Association (ICA), added that the rule of law, obedience to the constitution and justice needed to be enforced in the country.
The governor said those who think that Nigerians cannot live together in unity are deceiving themselves.
He pointed out that though tongues might differ, the nation has a common destiny and it is the defence of this collective destiny that has kept the country together.
Kalu lauded the ongoing economic reforms by President Olusegun Obasanjo, saying if properly executed, the reforms would yield positive results.
Submitting that Nigeria is a nation with great potential, Kalu urged that transparency and equity be made paramount in the affairs of the nation.
However, he said though he saw nothing wrong with the content of the reforms "everything is wrong with the timing. It is my view that the government should have first provided steady electricity, good road, sufficient food and rehabilitated the rail system before embarking on the reforms. Because these amenities were not put in place, the people are now groaning under the weight of the reforms."
Narrowing down his discourse to Abia State, the governor told his audience that the state has the capacity to supply most of the technological and industrial needs of Nigeria if encouraged.
He added that the current reform programme could be anchored on the success story of the technological transformation that has taken place in the state.
Kalu recalled the visit to Abia in March this year by the World Bank president, Mr. James Wolfenson, accompanied by Finance Minister, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, saying during their visit, they expressed satisfaction with the ingenuity of the Small and Medium Enterprises (SMES) and offered to assist them.
And turning to the Igbo in Diaspora, Kalu charged: "You should harness your resources with a view to investing back home. Whatever success you have achieved here in the U.S. can only be meaningful when the impact is felt back home."
On Igbo nation, he lamented that real unity had eluded the race 34 years after the Civil War saying: "We have only succeeded in sentencing the spirits of our dead brothers and sisters to perpetual torture and agony."
