Prof.Ibenta Proposes Overall Youth Empowerment For National Development
By Michael Ezenwata
A Celebrated Retired Professor Of Banking,Finance And Economic Development Studies Steve Ibenta has advocated youth Investment in education, skills, technology and entrepreneurship to enhance the nation’s socio- economic development.
The call was made at the valedictory ceremony/Ex-Augural Lecture and Festschrift presentation by Professor Ibenta at the ASUU Secretariat Awka.
According to the academic, the politics of neglect manifested in underfunded universities,brain drain and weak job creation policies undermines this demographic advantage.
He proposed that government’s and monetary authorities should strategically drive wealth creation and improve the quality of life for its people.
To achieve this objective, Prof.Ibenta suggested that stakeholders in the field of Finance in the country should rise to the challenge of full professionalization of the discipline to elevate the Finance profession to the top echelon of the elite group of professions in Nigeria.
Furthermore, he called for the encouragement of productive lending, public – private partnerships,leveraging technology for banking efficiency, using modern monetary policy tools to finance large scale public infrastructure projects, strengthening institutions among other recommendations to fortify the nation’s economy base.
In all,Prof.Ibenta noted that a developing country like Nigeria cannot do without subsidy for the agricultural, manufacturing and educational sectors of the economy.
The title of Ex-Augural Lecture is,”The Lost Paradise:Power Of Money,Finance And Banking,And Politics Of Investment,Wealth Creation And Sustainable Society ‘.
