Your excellency, Rt Hon. Peter Odey, PHD; The Deputy Governor of Cross River State. Our very distinguished speakers and panelists, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen: On behalf of the team of coordinators, I welcome you to the third edition of the International Leadership and Economic Roundtable event, hosted in the city of Calabar, Cross River State.
The ILERT, hosted by Misrah Leadership Alliance Initiative, is a forum for discussions, idealization, and for the forging of strategic alliances within the jurisdictions of leadership across the social spheres. It is indeed a forum where business leaders, political and professional leaders, corporate sector leaders, captains of industry, and religious leaders converge in order to connect, discuss, incubate and foster ideas which are deemed relevant to the times, and necessary for our collective growth as a society.
The theme – Nurturing A Sustainability Culture was inspired by the consciousness of the change in the dynamics of the orientation of the times we live in. The challenge that comes with continuity, as a result of the subtle but obvious social disconnect between the older and the younger generations and its impact on the legacy of any development-oriented governmental administration.
I believe that as a result of challenges facing us globally, which trickles down to every single unit of society in which we are a part of, asking the right questions will not only help us to understand where we may have gotten it wrong in times past, but will also ensure a proper alignment of our thoughts, thereby inspiring actions that are development-centered, results oriented and human-uplifting, in line with the vision of current political administration of Cross River State.
Here are a few thoughts to activate today’s discourse:
How can we establish a corporate culture of creativity, productivity, and result-orientedness as drivers of our corporate vision instead of pleasure and comfort?
How can our beloved State become a hub that nurtures the aspirations of our noble and well-informed citizens in order to tap into the vast reserve of their potentials, thereby fostering growth in all ramifications for the benefit of all?
How do we inspire unfeigned loyalty to the corporate vision, which is a core driver of structural integrity in a society whose moral fabric has been fractured by leadership lapses and recurrent systemic challenges?
How do we establish and ensure sustainable economic policies, to engender the collective growth of indigenous business ecosystems and expunge the smear of leadership distrust etched deep within the fabric of the soul of the average citizen, which has the propensity to impair the development trajectory of the current administration.
Is it possible that in a few years from now, woven into the fabric of our collective consciousness will be a sense of pride, hinged on the achievements which are as a result of the tireless commitment of this administration to making The People’s Paradise indeed, a Paradise for the People.
For, when economic ambitions are guided by guardrails of Justice, Equity and Truth, morality is insured in the soul of corporate society; and this, by all standards, guarantees the establishment of a legacy of sustainability.
God bless Cross River State, God bless the Prince Bassey Edet Otu & Rt Hon. Peter Odey – led administration, in Jesus name. Thank you.