NEPC boss not tribalistic, says Northern Youth

The Northern Youth Coalition for Positive Change (NYCPC) has said the Executive Director and Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian Export Promotion Council (NEPC) Mr Segun Awolowo is not tribalistic in the running of the affairs of the Commission.

The group said, Awolowo has so far demonstrated ample capacity to make the council relevant in repositioning Nigeria’s economy.

The coalition’s expression of confidence in Awolowo’s leadership followed a petition against Awolowo alleging issues of  tribalism in the running of the NEPC.

The president of NYCPC, Adamu Adamu, who spoke with reporters in Abuja on Monday, described the NEPC Chief Executive as a detribalized Nigerian who has treated the north and all other regions of the country fairly in all his undertakings and should be accorded maximum respect for placing merit above ethnic sentiments.

Adamu noted that those accusing Awolowo of tribalism do so for lack of information considering the robust relationship he has with a vast majority of the youths in the northern region.

He reasoned that “People fail to realize that some Chief Executive Officers of government agencies have no option but to work with the officers they met in office. It will be great injustice to remove those public officers on account of their ethnicity simply because the existing configuration appears not to favour other groups.
“The Northern Youth Coalition for Positive Change is of the view that hierarchy and competence should not be sacrificed to please a few people. What we read in the online publication about the accusation of tribalism left us baffled because it seemed the aggrieved petitioners wanted standards to be compromised for their own interest.
“We therefore decided to respond in this fashion because we are worried that the distractions from the baseless accusations can shift focus away from the economic revitalization that the country should be pursuing through the diversification of our export base beyond crude oil. If we can get the economy right through this we think it will enable more northern youths and other Nigerians to get employment or even grow small scale businesses. This is more important than petty and personal ethnic sentiments that do not that add value to us as youths.
“Since Mr Awolowo has shown what is possible with diversifying our export, he should be allowed to focus. Instead of pandering to base mentality, the criticisms and demands we should be directing at him at this stage should be for him to do more in the shortest time possible.” Adamu charged.

He further warned that no one should go about slandering patriotic Nigerians in the name of ethnicity as the Change Agenda of President Muhammadu Buhari does not subscribe to such mundane issues and have rooms for technocrats, bureaucrats and professionals like Awolowo who are ready to move the nation forward in every ramification.