By Omodele Adigun
The Chairman of Fidelity Bank Plc, Mr Mustafa Chike-Obi, has called on the federal and state governments to formulate policies that would favour young people and private sector as 90 per cent of all capital projects in the country are funded by the group.
According to the AMCON ex-boss, who disclosed this at the weekend in his keynote address as the Chairman of the New Telegraph Awards 2021 in Lagos, “90 per cent of all capital projects are private sector-driven and funded. And yet we spent so much energy fighting over the 10 per cent that government controls. If the government should leave the private sector alone, nobody would want to be in government”, he stated.
Chike-Obi then appealed to those in authority to create conducive environment for businesses to thrive.
His words: “Nigeria is a very prospering country; we haven’t reach our potential. You look at a country like China, which we are trying to emulate. China has been around for over 1000 years. We are still a young country. And we still make mistakes. But if we all have the love of the country, we should fix them.
“So I plead with the people in power today ; you will not be in power for ever. The people that are not in power today, some of them may be in power in the future. The only plea I have for the people in power today is to please, let the young people and let the private sector thrive. Government is not to save Nigeria; but government can impede the progress of young people. Let’s do things that enable our young people to progress; let’s do things that encourage the private sector.
“One of the things that I ask people in Nigeria is how much of the money spent on capital projects every year comes from the government? And how much comes from the private sector? The answer is that 90 per cent of all capital projects are private sector-driven and funded. “And yet we spent so much energy fighting over the 10 per cent that government controls. We kill ourselves about it; we say we are marginalized because we don’t have offices in government. If the government should leave the private sector alone, nobody would want to be in government. Government is hard; government is not rewarding; government is a duty and sacrifice.
“So you see people in government and you think they are having a good time of it , they are not. So please, leaders, people in authority; ministers; please let the young people thrive. They are the savior of the future of this country.”