•Seeks support for Tinubu’s reform
By Halimah Olamide
The Former Chief of Army Staff, Lt Gen Tukur Buratai, has suggested the use of technology as a catalyst to generate progress.
Buratai who was represented by Dr Mohammed Sam Abubakar, his Special Adviser on Research and Development delivered the message at the Guild of Corporate Online Publishers (GOCOP) 2024 annual conference in Lokoja, Kogi State.
The conference was themed “Nigeria: Tackling Insecurity, Power Deficit And Transitioning To Digital Economy”
Buratai solicited for the support for the administration of President Bola Tinubu to deliver the reforms in the power sector as well as his other reform programmes for the benefit of Nigerians.
According to him, providing effective solutions to the myriads of problems in the power sector would encourage investors to Nigeria.
He therefore suggested commitment to innovations essential to drive the collective course of the Nigerian nation. “We must use technology as catalysts to generate meaningful progress,’’ he said, adding, ‘Nigerians should support President Tinubu to deliver’’.
He said unless the present administration tackles the problem of miscreants destroying power holding infrastructures in certain parts of the country, such unwholesome practices could spread to the other parts of the country.
Meanwhile, Prof Rotimi Ajayi of the Department of Political Science, Federal University Lokoja , one of the panelists at the conference, said insecurity, power deficit and transitioning to digital economy are all related in terms of causative factors as well as the solutions to them.
However , he noted that leadership has been missing in the analysis of Nigeria’s problems, while explaining that the governance process is faulty, he noted that this is also not about corruption alone but a combination of many factors.
“When I look at the configuration of the Nigerian population, the least thing that bothers them is digital education, they just want to eat and have access to their farms, so tackling the issue of insecurity is key and this rests solely on leadership,’’ he said.
“Nigeria no longer has followers; the citizens have become slaves. Unfortunately, people think access to government is an opportunity to bring home government resources,’’ he said.
He therefore urged online publishers to interrogate the governing process and ensure that the society does not only punish corruption but kicks against anything that glorifies it. “This will lay the foundation for insecurity not to thrive,’’ he explained.