By Damiete Braide
Co-founder of NewsWatch Magazine, Ray Ekpu, has warned that the country would continue to witness stunted growth until the problem of bad leadership is resolved.
He stated this during a book launch of The Patriots: Conversations with Nigeria’s columnists and public intellectuals on dividends of democracy, governance, leadership and nation building, by O’Femi Kolawole, in Lagos.
Ekpu, who was chairman on the occasion, said: “We have a country where the universities are shut for seven months but the leadership have done nothing to stop it. They are arresting the growth of the country and when they do so, they arrest the growth of education.”
He called on Nigerians to query politicians when they come to campaign, saying there should be no smooth talking.
“Rather, ask how they will do what they have promised and they should explain it,” he emphasised.
President, Network of Bookclubs and Readers Promoters in Nigeria (NBRB), Richard Mammah, who reviewed the book, said books are important to nation-building process.
“I will add also, their reading too. This is more so as it is one thing to write and publish a book, but it is another for patrons and readers to open the pages and read through, particularly at a time like this and in a clime like ours, where we grapple with very troubling illiteracy, information overload and reading culture challenges.
“It is on this score then that the author should be commended for the massive work done in this book; in reaching out to such an array of busy professionals, sitting with them to share their perspectives and, thereafter, going back to process the materials gathered to give us the tome that we have come here to receive and probe today,” he said.