From George Onyejiuwa, Owerri
The Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), David Babachir Lawal, has blamed the current economic recession on the massive corruption and looting of the economy by the previous administration.
He also stressed the determination of the present administration to lay a new foundation for the country in the face of the threatening security challenges in the North-east.
Lawal made these submissions after his conferment with a Fellowship of the Imo State Polytechnic, Umuagwo, at its 5th convocation ceremony.
He said: “What has held us down as a nation is corruption. Corruption in government at all levels has totally destroyed our nation. It is evident in key sectors like educational system, healthcare delivery, infrastructural development and provision of social services. Massive corruption has crippled our economy and dwarfed our individual potentials, including limiting the enterprising and intellectual capacity of our people”.
Speaking further on the state of the economy, he added: “This administration has introduced diversification policy and in the shortest possible time, results will be coming in like we are doing in the area of rice and wheat production. On the youth, the government of PMB is doing everything possible to create sustainable jobs as 30,000 jobs are already being created through one of its programmes.”
Host Governor, Rochas Okorocha, in his own speech at the event, said “This is not the time to weep or complain in the struggle to nationhood. It is a time to comply.
“President Buhari is building a strong foundation for sustainable growth of the nation. Whoever that is waiting for Buhari to build sky scrapers and historic tunnels may be wasting time, as his job is to lay a solid foundation so that successive governments will have a good foundation to build upon.”
The highlight of the event was the conferment of the chairmanship of the Governing Council of the Institution on Sir Emeka Offor. The Governor charged Offor to take the school to an enviable height, while also commending the outgoing chairman, Prince Charles Amadi, for a work well done.