Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar on Thursday challenged the Federal Government to tackle the decay in the power sector, saying Nigeria can no longer afford to be relegated to the backseat in a technology driven world.

He also said that Nigeria needed a leader that would develop the country through restructuring and put the country in the positive corner of global economic of nations.

His verdict was also echoed by renowned political economist, Pat Utomi and former Executive Vice Chairman of National Communications Commission, Ernest Ndukwe.

They spoke at the 70th birthday lecture and public lecture with the theme, ‘Technology: A missing link in Nigeria’s development’ and presentation of a book in honour of Emeritus Chairman of DAAR Communications Plc, Raymond Dokpesi, in Abuja.

Speakers at the event also expressed sadness that the ignorance of some appointees of the Federal Government technology-wise was costing the country trillions of dollars in foreign investments.

Atiku said Nigeria needed a leadership that understood technology and was willing to reform the economy through digital innovation.

According to him, beyond having a technology enthusiast as President, the country also needed a leader that would unify, restructure and guarantee the security of its citizens.

Atiku, however, said he was the right man that would give the country what it needed to take the lead in the comity of nations.

“Nigeria needs a leadership that can unify the country, bring stability, restructure the country, reform the economy and bring about cohesion to the nation”, he said.

Ndukwe said the world is currently experiencing massive transformations in various sectors which are completely driven by new innovations, stressing that inadequate technology infrastructure was the bane of Nigeria’s development.

In the same vein, Prof. Pat Utomi said it was shameful that most of the challenges in the power sector were caused by personal choices made by political leaders.

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He said, “We cannot make progress, as a nation, until we deal with power, because it is so fundamental. But we could have solved the problem 20 years ago.”

Dokpesi, said that Nigeria’s growth and development would be realized only if political leaders could create new economic opportunities, and transform the society.

He also stressed that the issues of insecurity, the infrastructure deficit, internet affordability and access, broadband connection speed, digital literacy, digital and technical skills gap, and gender biases in the technology industry must also be addressed for the nation to advance.

Against that backdrop, Dokpesi opined that science and technology held tremendous benefits for Nigeria’s economic growth.