I ATTENDED a ceremony at Sheraton Hotel, Lagos, during which a few prominent Nigerians who had made great contributions to the construction industry were inducted into the Hall of Fame. One of them was my mentor, brother and friend Obong (Arc) Victor Attah, former Governor of Akwa Ibom State who is truly a man of many parts.

President Buhari spoke in favour of it. Vice President Osinbajo is in support. In fact, it will be difficult to find any well-informed Nigerian who disagrees with the campaign to “Buy Made In Nigeria Goods”. Then, why has our import bill been rising and few people actually patronize those products? The answer is simple: we have no sales people who can sell Made In Nigeria Goods – which is like moving a mountain. We lack the sales people because we keep on making several mistakes.

‘BETTER late than never” remains the word of wisdom when a measure long delayed had caused immeasurable damages to a nation until it can no longer be avoided. For too long and out of fear of a small minority of selfish individuals calling themselves Labour Unions, governments continued to operate commercial enterprises long after it had become glaring to all other stakeholders that governments are incapable of running businesses successfully.

Leader of the Igbo Women Assembly and an associate of the late Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe, Chief Mrs Maria Okwor, in this interview attributes the problem in Nigeria to failure of leadership and injustice which came with military domination and said only restructuring across regions, resource control and devolution of power will solve the problems.

THIS article could have been titled FRIENDS OFBUHARI, PLEASE TELL HIM THE TRUTH. Last week, a few names were disclosed of people regarded as Buhari’s close confidantes.