Several eminent Nigerians yesterday made the case of the transformation of the country as the eleventh edition of The Platform took place. The conference under the theme ‘State of The Nation: Challenges and Opportunities’ witnessed a faculty of 5 distinguished speakers as well as the convener, Pastor Poju Oyemade.
In his opening address, Pastor Poju Oyemade said the idea of The Platform was conceived about seven years ago in a bid to encourage intellectual thoughts and ideas around entrepreneurship and national development, he also said that he believed that in a democratic system of governance, the most important part of the system is the participation of the civil populace in the art of governance and the power of the populace is determined by how educated and informed they are.
Pastor Ituah Ighodalo in his session called for the church in Nigeria to participate in the transformation of Nigeria by developing a transparent leadership style as well and take an active interest in civil matters.
Former minister of education and solid minerals, Mrs Obiageli Ezekwesili said the Nigerian state was plagued by 2 major problems: poverty and corruption. She also called for Nigerian citizens to conceive a ‘new Nigerian’ state by participating in governance by getting informed with facts and figures and holding the government accountable. She also said anyone going into governance must be absolutely sure that they will not succumb to corruption under any circumstance.
In addition, Former chairman of the Thisday Editorial Board and veteran journalist, Mr Simon Kolawole said the Nigerian people must come together and unite as the problems of Nigerians everywhere are the same. He put aside calls for a sovereign national conference and constitutional reforms saying that all that is needed for Nigeria to be transformed was for political office holders in Nigeria to become patriotic and selfless.
