According to the President of the Institute of Public Analysts of Nigeria, Dr. Dahiru Adamu, the Federal Government is treating professionals in the country like lepers.
This statement was made on Tuesday when Adamu spoke at a training workshop held by IPAN in Enugu.
Adamu went on to express regret that the government did not recognise the roles of professionals in the success of its economic diversification agenda.
“While the unjustifiable refusal of the Federal Government of Nigeria to inaugurate our council is unfortunate, I cannot but sympathise with it because it is like searching for an object in broad daylight when it is in your hand!
“With all the brouhaha of transformation of our economy by looking inwards in agriculture, oil and gas, health, manufacturing, research, environment, solid minerals, energy, construction, etc, the indispensable role of professionals, analysts in particular, is not given any respect or recognition.
“You want to transform the economy yet you are treating your professionals as if they are lepers,” Adamu said.
He stressed that it was wrong for the government to dissolve boards and councils of professional bodies.
“If government can just dissolve boards and councils of professional bodies, which in the first instance are not a creation of government, arbitrarily, then something is fundamentally wrong in our knowledge of their legal, strategic or structural nature, or there is mischief somewhere,” Adamu added.
He canvassed the adoption of research as the foundation of economic development, and faulted the prevailing practice where government at all levels hands out cash to citizens.
He said, “Two days ago, the British Government saw that the best and most robust support and definitive language to check the slide in confidence in its economy is to grant a $2bn support to research for development.
“So, transformation should not be to line up women and political jobbers and distribute N50,000 to them.
“We all know this is not productive and not sustainable – support to demand-driven research that produces outputs that create jobs and generate wealth is what we need,” he said.
