FORMER Vice President, Atiku Abubakar, has called on government at all levels to make necessary investments that would lift the citizens out of poverty. He gave the charge at the Annual Rotary Foundation Fundraising Dinner/Dance in Lagos, at the weekend.
While stressing the need for good neighbourliness through philanthropy, Atiku said the various tiers of government should not abandon their responsibilities to the governed. According to him, the primary source of sustenance for the less privileged is government.
"That is the job of government. Philanthropy can only support but cannot replace the state. It is only the state that has the capacity, scale, reach and the coordination to lift a large number of people out of poverty and provide them with life-sustaining amenities.
"That is why it is important for government, especially in a developing country such as ours with enormous infrastructural, educational and welfare deficits, to have a rethink about development and social provisioning.
«We must make the necessary investments to fix our power sector, roads, railways, air/sea ports, and facilities in our educational institutions. That is why our governments need to make massive investments in infrastructure to generate employment for millions of our citizens and spur economic activities," he said.
The Guardian