A member of the House of Representatives from Iseyin/Itesiwaju/Kajola/Iwajowa Federal Constituency, Oyo State, Hon. Shina Peller, has been decorated with an award of Doctorate Degree in Business Administration by the American Heritage Southern California University.
The decoration took place during the Africa-Dubai Investment Business Summit held from 29th to 30th September 2021 at Habtoor Palace, Al Habtoor City, United Arab Emirates (UAE).
Whilst making his remarks at the summit, Hon. Peller expressed his profound gratitude to the organizers of the event and the school for finding him worthy of the honour, describing it as a challenge for him to be better in his benevolent acts and humanitarian gesture not just in Nigeria but in the entire Africa space.
In the same vein, Hon. Peller seized the opportunity to share a few of his most pressing thoughts on investment in Africa, particularly Nigeria.
He said: “We cannot have a discussion about Africa’s global economic future without mentioning Nigeria. Nigeria is naturally endowed with vast natural resources promising potential national success, but unfortunately this has not always translated. Perhaps it is because regardless of the resources, people and vision will always be the driver of certain and lasting change.”
Explaining further, he continued, “In this regard, we need to start exploring the potential of the Nigerian people with a population of about 240 million and the youth occupying about 75% of it.
“Our socio-political environment and its attendant instability is our biggest threat, and to address this, the youth must be used as the driver and sustainer of peace. My point is that stability and predictability are what guarantee investment, and this can only be achieved when there is peace.”
In addition, Hon. Peller observed that peace is a veritable tool through which lasting socio-economic change and progress can be achieved in Nigeria and Africa at large, whilst identifying the youth as the right constituency to make this possible.
He said: “As Ayedero of Yorubaland (promoter of peace and prosperity in the land), I have considered it a task for me to make all understand that peace is an essential tool for delivering lasting social-economic change and progress in Nigeria, and the youth should be the driver. This is so because we have no bigger constituency in Nigeria and perhaps Africa than the youth. It is time to service this constituency.”
The Iseyin-born federal legislator also explained why he likes throwing his weight behind youth initiatives such as the Lead Generation Initiative (LGI), a non-governmental, non-partisan and non-profit organization that has been training and engaging Nigerian youths across all the 36 states of the federation including the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) on effective leadership, governance, strategic communication, civic engagement and community development.
“This explains why I continuously align myself with the youth initiatives such as the Lead Generation Initiative (LGI) that focuses on equipping young Nigerians to take up the responsibility in their localities through mobilization and political participation.
“It is on this note that I charge all those who see the potential in Africa to begin the required investment in its most valuable resource, the youth. My message is that there cannot be lasting socio-economic progress in Africa without peace, and there cannot be peace without the youth as the promoter, driver and sustainer of peace. We must join in spreading this message”, he added.
