Former Minister of Aviation, Stella Oduah has charged Nigeria to ensure that it does not sacrifice its development on the altar of politics if it must improve its infrastructure and better the lives of its citizens.
Oduah made this remark at the weekend in Enugu when she received an award from the Ikenga Award for Excellence Foundation for her enviable performance as Minister of Aviation and her transformation of the sector.
The former Minister noted that Nigeria would continue to lag behind if the citizens allow political sentiments to blur their focus on the need to provide necessary infrastructure in all facets of the economy so that the country would maximise its human and material resources for the benefit of all.
She added that that while political interest is ephemeral, development is permanent and opportunity missed may never be regained.
On how the ongoing projects she left behind would be completed, the ex- minister said there is a well-articulated master plan that must be followed and which would guide all the development in the aviation industry, adding that her successor would follow the master plan and remarked that anybody who deviated from that master plan would be doing a disservice to the country.
“I believe he (her successor) would follow the master plan to the letter; and really, anybody that does contrary to that is doing a disservice to the Nigerian people and there must be a continuation to
the development of the aviation sector.
It must be mainstreamed. Mr. President has started mainstreaming and that should continue because we do this for a very well developed aviation sector and if you look at it really, aviation is employment
generating, contributes to nation’s GDP, so why would it not been given priority? It should be given priority and Mr. President is doing that,” Oduah said.
