US: Use April Polls to Reposition Nigeria
By Crusoe Osagie

24 Feb 2011
Views: 654




As anti-government protests envelope some parts of Africa, the United States has called on the Nigerian government to take advantage of the April elections to reposition itself as the leading nation on the African continent.

US Ambassador to Nigeria Terrence McCulley made the call Wednesday in Lagos at a dinner organised in his honour by the Nigerian American Chambers of Commerce.



The ambassador said the April general election is vital to the triumph of the Nigerian economy and the Nigerian state because of its capacity to bring in credible and accountable government with the will and integrity to use the existing institutions in the country to combat corruption and other ills that currently stall the country’s growth and development.



“I will not like to advise the Nigerian government or the Nigerian people but I will love to point out that Nigeria has a very important electoral moment coming up in April. Our hope is that it will be a credible and transparent electoral process. That the millions of Nigerians who have registered to vote will come out and vote. That the government will create conditions that will allow them exercise their civic duties peacefully without intimidation and that the result of the elections will be credible, transparent and will fully reflect the wishes and events of the Nigerian people,” McCulley said.



The ambassador, who stressed that corruption is the major challenge that the country faces, explained that Nigeria already had sufficient institutions required to deal with the problem. He added that the institutions needed to be backed by a government with integrity, transparency and accountability.

According to him, this sort of government could only be obtained with very credible elections, which would represent the wishes and aspirations of the Nigerian people.



He said with Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of seven per cent, Nigeria is among the nations with the most prospects in the world, but stressed that the country needed to deal with infrastructure and power problems, as well as the hydra-headed problem of corruption in order to attain its extremely high potentials which the country possesses.



“With seven per cent GDP, Nigeria is one of the countries with the highest prospects in the world. It has tremendous untapped potential but it requires leadership that is committed to the rule of law.”


http://www.thisdaylive.com/articles/us-use-april-polls-to-reposition-nigeria/86751/

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