ASSOCIATION of Professional Bodies of Nigeria (APBN) has called on the Federal government to use Professionals to achieve the desired change.

The organisation, which comprises of 28 professional bodies, made this call at the weekend in Calabar during the 5th Presidential Retreat of the Association, noting that, it is the appropriate time for Nigerians to embrace professionalism.
Speaking on the theme, ‘National Development: Professionals as Key Enabler’, the President of the association, Foluso Fasoto, said Professionals opinion have been neglected for so long leading to so many wrongs in the running of affairs in government.

He said; “We believe that this is the appropriate time for Nigerians to embrace the professionals.
“We have been shouting the loudest that Nigeria should manage its resource well but because we are getting enough and more than enough money from oil we forgot the advice coming from the professionals.

“Recent events in Nigeria leave so much to desire from our leaders and the management of the nation’s resources and institutions. This has impeded the impact of government reforms and change agenda of the new President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration.

“Our government is operating below the general expectation of the citizenry and apparently in dire need of our support in many areas to govern the country by exemplary leadership.

“The power situation, unprecedented level of corruption, unstable government policies, rising unemployment and general state of insecurity have degenerated an all-time bad and it is getting worse by the day.

“We therefore canvas for a change of government strategy and direction to run the affairs of the country based on information that is transparent and accountable”.

He explained that the retreat was organized to bring members to interact and productively engaged in worthy and beneficial causes that would educate, inform and lead the society by making it better through their services.
Fasoto noted that, “Nigeria government has no choice than to listen to the professionals and we are here getting ourselves ready and we are ready to support the government.

“We thank God that things are changing now. I am happy that federal executive council recently tasked, state governors, to look inward at their Internal Generated Revenue (IGR).

“They cannot do this successfully without the help of the professionals. Other professionals have been shouting but nobody was listening because we appear not to realize the advantages but with the current dribbling from revenue from oil and the need for Nigeria revenue to move up”.

Presenting a paper on Collaboration of Professionals for National Development, the speaker, Dr. Moses Ajayi said, the need for collaboration amongst professionals to address national development issues.
He explained that, professionals are essential group in the country that managed planning, conceptualization, policy formulation and plan implementation.

Ajayi said, “a national development has the basic objective of improving the living condition of the people of the country hence we as professionals should take the leading position”.