Governments at all levels and other major players in Nigeria have been urged to show greater commitment to national development by addressing insecurity, unemployment and other socio-economic issues.
A Women Coalition namely Association of Women Orientation for Sustainable Development in Nigeria, made the call at a news conference held in Ibadan, on Tuesday, to address the menace.
According to Chief Grace Oluwatoye, the President of AWON, the federal, state and local governments must rise to the challenges of insecurity, unemployment and sundry other issues besetting the masses before it becomes late.
Oluwatoyin said that majority of the citizens hardly fed in a day and that the country deserved better things than being experienced at the moment.
She urged the private sector to support the authorities in tackling issues of unemployment, saying that government alone could not do it.
Dr Olabisi Awosanya of Zonta Club of Ibadan tasked the citizens on the need to shun corruption, stressing that there could not be a better Nigeria without tackling the issue of corruption.
Awonsanya likened corruption in the land to cancer destroying the economy and affecting the country’s image negatively among the committee of nations.
She, therefore, urged that “We must all be positive role models. Governments and citizens must shun corruption for the good of the country.
“Parents must counsel their children on negative effects of social vices such as internet fraud among others for them to channel their talents to things that will be beneficial to the country for better society.”
In addition, she urged the government to fortify the country’s borders by investing in technology. This, he said, would help in tackling the current spate of insecurity.
In the interest of peace, Mrs Bola Thompson called on Nigerians to unite and tolerate one another irrespective of ethnic or religious biases.
Unless urgently addressed, Nigeria would be consumed by challenges such as ethnicity, intolerance and inequality, Thompson stated.
In her remarks, Alhaja Faozat Alabi, advised government to address infrastructural deficit in the education sector, noting that there could not be effective learning without good infrastructure.
Alabi said that the country was blessed with brilliant students who were being impeded by shortage of infrastructure for effective learning.
She called on the Federal Government and the Academic Staff Union of University to end the lingering strike in the universities.
Dr Olusade Taiwo and Mr Adepoju Alabi also urged Nigerians to invest in agriculture and security to guarantee survival.
