The Emir of Kano, Malam Muhammadu Sanusi II, has called for policies that would tackle the current socio-economic challenges and ensure better future for the country.
The monarch made the call in a keynote address he presented at a roundtable discussion organised by the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN), in Kano on Thursday.
He said there was need for the government to focus on programmes and policies that would ensure better economic growth and development in the country.
He said there was also urgent need for the government to take bold decisions that would ensure better future for the country.
“It is necessary for our politicians to give the country what it needs. They should think beyond the next election.
“Population growth is one of the principal drivers of poverty, so we need to seriously question how we approach issues in this country.
“The choice is ours because the decision we take today will determine the future of the country,” he said.
The monarch, who frowned at the increasing number of out-of-school children, called on state governments especially in the North to provide free and compulsory basic and secondary education.
He said the measure was necessary so as to reduce the socio-economic challenges bedevilling the region in particular and the country at large. “We have more people living in extreme poverty in Nigeria than in India and China.
“If we are surviving with this situation the next generation cannot survive under this situation, hence the need for the government to seriously think about it and do something immediately,”he said.
Earlier in his remarks, the National President of MAN, Engr. Mansir Ahmed emphasised the need for states and federal governments to partner with relevant stakeholders to address the numerous problems facing the manufacturing sector.
NAN reports that the Roundtable discussion was attended by various stakeholders including representatives of the Nigeria Investment Promotion Commission (NIPC), Bay Enterprises Limited and Dean, Faculty of Engineering, Bayero University Kano, among others.
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