Ex-Bayelsa Gov, Dickson Reveals Cause Of Bad Government In Nigeria

Former Bayelsa State governor and current senator for Bayelsa West, Henry Seriake Dickson, has emphasized the need for intentional government policies to foster economic development in Nigeria.

He pointed out that the absence of complete accountability and impunity within Nigeria’s governance framework have contributed to numerous social issues, including inefficiencies and pervasive systemic corruption that have deeply affected the nation’s structure.

The Senator made these remarks on Friday during a presentation at the 11th convocation lecture for the 29th and 30th graduating classes of the Nigerian College of Accountancy in Kwall, Plateau State.

His presentation, titled ‘The Impact of Governance Policies on Economic Development in Nigeria: Challenges and Sustainability,’ highlighted essential recommendations for policy priorities aimed at enhancing Nigeria’s macro-critical reforms and stimulating growth and job creation.

Represented by the Director of Academics at ANAN University, Prof. Sunday Mlanga, noted that the irresponsibility of leaders has also led to widespread social unrest and ongoing demands for restructuring and a comprehensive overhaul of Nigeria’s governance system.

“Political rascality, ethnicity, lack of need assessments, corruption, religion and too many points of agenda, inability to properly identify problems, lack of continuity, lack of political will, are all factors militating against effective policy making in Nigeria with respect to economic development.”

“Others are inadequate resources, white elephant or unrealistic policy goals, lack of clarity in policy definition, weak democratic values and instructions, lack of good governance, lack of popular commitment, lack of input from the people, paucity of data, policy instability and lack of thoroughness in policies execution,” he said.

Meanwhile, the Director General of the college, Dr. Friday Effiong Akpan, previously stated that a total of 5,600 students from the Nigerian College of Accountancy will be certified as accountants during the institution’s 11th combined convocation, which is set to take place on January 24th and 25th, 2025.

He noted that among these graduates, 12 students achieved distinction awards and will be recognized at the convocation ceremony.

Furthermore, he highlighted that these graduating accountants have successfully completed their training programs for the 2022/2023 and 2023/2024 academic sessions, with their official graduation occurring in August 2023.