Thursday, 28th March 2024
To guardian.ng
Search

Experts urge government to liberalise trade policies for global competitiveness

By Gloria Ehiaghe
21 August 2018   |   2:10 am
Leaders at levels of government have been urged to liberalise trade policies, to enable local industries compete favourably in the global market.They submitted that liberalising trade policies would open up the economy to generate more foreign direct investments (FDIs).

FDI

Leaders at levels of government have been urged to liberalise trade policies, to enable local industries compete favourably in the global market.They submitted that liberalising trade policies would open up the economy to generate more foreign direct investments (FDIs).

Speaking at the 2018 awards, fellows and spouses day luncheon, organised by the Nigerian Institute of Management (NIM), Commodore Abimbola Ayuba (Rtd.) challenged leaders and chief executives to contend with continuously occurring changes in the national and international business in order to grow and maintain their competitive advantage in the market.

Ayuba, who spoke on the theme, “Leadership and Changing Paradigms-Confronting the Dynamics of Change,” expressed worry about the inability of the political leaders to timely respond to changes in the global governance and business environment. He stressed that it was an opportunity missed by Nigeria, for failing to subscribe to the African Free Trade initiative.

According to the retired Commodore, the raging war against insurgency in the North East of Nigeria, and persistent attacks by killer herdsmen have caused businesses to relocate to neighbouring states, while the humanitarian problems are taking huge tolls on the economy.He, however, called on government to take concerted efforts to reduce insecurity if not eliminated by embracing new ideas that include security sector reforms.  

“Organisations need creative, innovative, and pioneering leaders to stay ahead in the race. Such leaders must have insight to anticipate what could happen at any given time and understand subtitles of the marketplace. “Nigeria needs to exploit opportunities provided by the African free market economy, which would diversify its market base, project small and medium scale enterprises into the African markets while business leaders need to pool together to gain synergy,” he said.

Earlier in his remark, the President and Chairman of Council, Prof Olukunle Iyanda, called on the stakeholders to cultivate integrity, respect for the rule of law and regard for the citizens whom they are expected to serve.“We need men and women who appreciate and accept self-imposed limitations of responsible leadership, and are committed to and imbued with integrity and concern for the wellbeing of the society in general rather than obsession with their own personal ambitions and self-aggrandisement.”

He congratulated the fellows, whom he described as being found worthy of the institute’s highest distinction and honour, particularly the six members that were conferred life membership, saying that they had kept faith with the Institute over the years. About 1,165 new fellows were welcomed into the fold, while different awards and life membership were conferred on some members.

In this article

0 Comments