Former Deputy Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Dr. Kingsley Muoghalu and former Information Minister, Frank Nweke Jnr are among dignitaries billed to speak at the Emerging Political Leaders (EPL) conference slated for November 22, ahead of the nation’s electioneering year which will determine the state of the economy and eventually return the nation to its lost glory.

In a statement, Conference Convener and former President of the National Youth Council of Nigeria (NYCN), Mr. Wale Ajani said that the conference, which will be held at Shehu Musa Yar’Adua Centre in Abuja, with the theme "Breaking the Existing Economic and Political Status Quo," was planned as part of efforts to install a new set of leaders with diverse orientation which must be channelled towards problem solving both economically and politically.

“Nigeria has remained a country of enormous potentials for several decades. The consensus among local and international leaders of thought is that Africa’s most populous country and largest economy ought to have performed much better in terms of human development and economic indices,” Ajani said.

“Leadership failure is largely at the heart of the current woes bedeviling Nigeria, with little being done to build a new crop of leaders, the nation seems fixated. The citizens have come to have very low expectations of their leaders.”

The statement further stated that the concept behind the summit was that “the world today is driven by knowledge, but the Nigerian political leadership is still fixated on how to share crude oil rents and export yam. Nigeria has tried but failed to build a stable economy driven by the sales of an unstable commodity and a near zero attempt to build human capacity.

“The pointers indicate that the current economic realities relying solely on crude oil will remain unstable over the long term and there is a need for paradigm shift to a more sustainable source of revenue in the new digital age.

“This new narrative demands for a new set of leaders with a different orientation towards economic and political problem solving, and a new engagement model with citizens, hence the need for this summit.”

He added: “The Emerging Political Leaders Summit will provide a platform for qualitative conversations and discourse about Nigeria as an alternative to the current system where there already exist a disconnect between citizens’ expectations and service delivery by our current crop of leaders.”

Ajani stated further that the programme was expected to consciously remove existing barriers to emerging leaders’ political participation. “It will foster emerging leaders' collaborative participation and intellectual engagements with other stakeholders, wherein young people will effectively take part in regular political decision-making processes. The EPL Summit is neither a one-off nor a short-term intervention, but a long-term engagement amongst the Emerging political leaders to build a consciousness amongst the vast majority of Nigerians,” he said.

Other eminent personalities expected to speak at the summit include: Ms Ayisha Osori of Open Society Initiative for West Africa (OSIWA), Dr. Nurudeen Mohammed, Hon. Faruk Yabo, MFR, Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi, Arc Nya-Etok, Hon. Tony Nwulu and Rt. Hon Luke Onofiok.

Others are Founder and Pro-Chancellor of Baze University, Abuja, Senator Datti Baba-Ahmed; Mr. Sentele F. Barnes (IRI Country Director) President, Economic Freedom Fighters, Julius Malema (South Africa); Mr. Joseph Busha, President of FreeZim Congress (Zimbabwe) and Nigerian author, Chimamanda Adichie, Dr. Jay Osi Samuel and Mr. Tope Fasua. The summit will be declared open by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo. (PRNigeria)

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