Vice President Yemi Osinbajo on Thursday said President Muhammadu Buhari and himself are prepared to serve with their integrity intact than to pursue any desire to make money in government.
He admitted that the nation was passing through a critical and interesting period, saying they remain committed to take the nation to the next level of social, political and economic development.
Osinbajo made the remarks at the NAF Conference Centre, Abuja, while responding to lectures delivered by Gen. Martin Luther Agwai, Dr. Mairo Mandara and Prof. Charles Soludo during this year’s edition of the Daily Trust Dialogue with the theme: “ 50 years since 1966: Is Nigeria Rising?”
Prof. Soludo, who was the last resource person to speak, said among others that the 2016 budget represented a missed opportunity for the government to set new standards for a post oil economy, urging the government to take bold and audacious steps to make changes happen.
However, Dr. Mandara held the audience spelt bound when she insisted that Nigeria needs a self-definition of her own political identity that would address social justice, inequality, women status, health, education and poverty.
She urged the nation’s leaders to lead by example and place more emphasis on merit rather than surrounding themselves only with people from their ethnic background at the detriment of quality service and commitment to the growth and development of Nigeria.
But Gen. Agwai averred that Nigeria is not rising in terms of development since it could not match its population growth of 175 million people and other potentials with qualitative development in education, transportation, agriculture, health, political stability, good governance and security.
But the Vice President, who insisted on staying until the key note speakers made their remarks, said the present administration is taking holistic approach in tackling the nation’s myriad of problems, stressing that President Buhari and himself had a duty to put in their best and deliver a nation with the capacity to grow and develop. – The Nation.
