Former Minister of Aviation, Stella Oduah, has said she has no regret leaving office, just as she declared that she was privileged to serve the nation at the ministerial capacity.
Her words: “It is a privilege, like I said, to serve Nigeria; to serve my nation…a country where you have 170 million people and you were given the opportunity to serve and make a difference, you leave a footpath behind, it is not easy, it is an honour, and I am very grateful to Nigerians.”
The former Aviation Minister also appealed to Nigerians to ensure that they do not sacrifice the country’s development on the altar of politics in order to improve the country’s infrastructure and better the lives of its citizens.
She made the call in Enugu, at the weekend, while receiving an award from the Ikenga Award for Excellence Foundation, for her ability to transform the aviation industry during her tenure as minister.
Oduah noted that Nigeria would continue to lag behind if the citizens allowed 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 while political interest was ephemeral, development was permanent and opportunity missed might never be regained.
On how the ongoing projects she left behind would be completed, the former minister said there was 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. She also 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 of the development of the aviation sector. It must be mainstreamed.
“President Goodluck Jonathan 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 and contributes to nation’s GDP, so why would it not be given priority? It should be given priority and the president is doing that,” Oduah said.
She said she was elated by the award and described it as the evidence that what was done at transforming the airports was appreciated; however, she attributed all the achievements to collective efforts of her team.
Other recipients of the Ikenga Award for Excellence include the former governor of Enugu State and former Secretary of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Dr Okwesilieze Nwodo, the former Minister of Information and Culture, Professor Dora Akunyili, former Chief of Staff to the President, Chief Michael Ayegbeni Oghiadomhe and Mr Innocent Chukwuma, an entrepreneur and owner of Innoson Motors.
Source: Tribune
