The Group Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer
of Diamond Bank Plc., Dr. Alex Otti, has said that for Nigeria to attain its
target as a developed country, it needs to revive the industrial sector,
alongside infrastructure.
Otti,
who was the guest speaker at the Hallmark Public Policy Forum in Lagos, with
the theme: “Saving the Future: Challenges of the New Nigeria”, said: “nations
compete to offer the most productive environment for business. Competitiveness
depends on productivity, with which a nation uses its human, capital and
natural resources.”
He
pointed that the country was ranked 147 out of 189 countries surveyed in ease
of doing business, even as it recorded low rating in the areas of electricity
provision, property registration, trading across borders, enforcing contracts
and payment of taxes.
He
also noted that the big challenge for the Nigerian economy is its mono-cultural
profile with crude oil as its major income earner.
Also
speaking at the forum, the Deputy Governor, Corporate Services, Central Bank of
Nigeria, Alhaji Suleiman Barau said that micro-economic indices show that
Nigeria is on the right track to attaining significant growth and development,
but explained that the country needs to improve on the area of leadership.
“Nigeria needs to improve on the quality
of its leadership to be able to compete in the comity of nations.
“We
can improve on our leadership. It is an area of challenge that we need to improve
on. We need to elect credible leaders. We have credible leaders but we need to
hold them accountable.
“If we have a leader that is
disciplined, sets agenda and implements it and we hold him accountable and with
our potentials, we would be on top as one of the greatest countries in the
world, at least in Africa,” he said.
By Adeniyi Idowu
Adunola
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