…Identifies the media role in reviving the economy
The Chairman, Ibadan Electricity Distribution Company, IBEDC, Dr. Tunde Ayeni has advocated more active roles for the private sector operators as a way out of the prevailing economic challenges confronting the nation, describing the private sector as the engine room of economic growth and development.
Dr. Ayeni who made this call at the NUJ 2017 lecture and Award Night held in Abuja weekend urged the government to create an enabling environment and put in place independent and enduring institutions that will encourage further participation of the private sector in the nation’s quest for economic rejuvenation.
While speaking as a key note speaker at the august gathering of the men and women of the media, he quipped “to be on the list of modern, prosperous nations, we must continue to consciously build an economy that is driven by the private sector operators under the watch of committed and patriotic regulators and in an enabling environment that is conducive for growth and development.”
Ayeni also noted the need to close the gap of infrastructural decay in the country, “The challenge of providing the desired infrastructure remains a very daunting option for private sector investment”
For Nigeria to move up the ladder and achieve her desired economic goals, Ayeni posited that the private sector remains the most viable option. He said: “But the fact still remains that the private sector is the very place to go in this innovative age, where new ways of doing things will definitely improve the propensity for higher profits… Any conscious effort to reduce unemployment must put in place a predetermined effort to increase the participation of private sector investors in the economy.”
In the spirit of the annual Press week and its relevance to national economic prosperity, he similarly had a few words for the guardians of the fourth estate of the realm; “I must add, the media owes it a duty to support this drive (an economy that is private sector led) in the discharge of their very crucial responsibilities to the nation.
The event which was organized by the Nigeria Union of Journalists, NUJ, FCT Council, Abuja, had in attendance top government officials, from the Executive and Legislative branches, leading corporate chieftains and veteran media professionals.
