President of Globe Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Hon. Nwabueze Buchi George has said that only when there is a set ‘Nigerian Dream’ can Nigeria truly be the giant of Africa.
Hon. Buchi George who spoke on the occasion of the 60th Independence Anniversary of Nigeria, said the nation has every bone of greatness in it, but bad policies and poor implementation has seen Nigeria lag where it is supposed to lead.
He said that quoting Nigeria’s abundant mineral resources has already been overstated and what is most important is what the country can achieve with these things.
“Nigeria is a great nation; you can imagine being tagged a giant of Africa the way we are today and what will happen when things become the way they are meant to be. We can be one of the giants of the world because our global records in investments, human capital development and manpower has not been matched by any other nation”
“Nigeria is one Africa nation with very successful individuals around the world and that simply means that with a good environment, Nigerians can do great things. This means that one thing we should be aiming at in a Nigerian dream that will create this enabling environment that will encourage our people to thrive”
Hon. Nwabueze Buchi George said that the ‘Nigerian Dream’ should be aimed at building a nation where politicians will no longer campaign with roads and electricity. A nation where neglect of rule of law, ethnicity and religious intolerance will be a thing of the past.
“If we set that standard, what it means is that our leaders irrespective of their political backgrounds will chase this dream of greatness on our behalf. As a trade and investment expert, I’ve come to see that with a little scale up on the usual interstate conventional trade in Nigeria, things will change, but there are issues holding us back”
“Only the liberals can experience liberation and if we keep harping on ethnicism, religion and unhealthy politics, Nigeria will remain where it is”, he said.
Through the Globe Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the United Nations Ambassador has put up both local and international trade and investment fora, one of the ways he believes his quota is being contributed.
“Nigeria will be great when we all understand that everyone will not be a Dangote or the president. When we understand the importance of the drivers, roadside mechanics, traders, newspaper vendors and everyone working hard to survive genuinely, we’ll be on that path”
“So far, we have done a lot in the past, but because of the new normal, we are shifting focus to 2021 with some great programs that will give both Nigeria and the entire Africa a good face in world trade and investment circle”
He listed Australia Africa Economic Forum; Japan Africa Economic Forum; Africa Economic and Investment Forum, Berlin Germany; Czech Africa Economic and Investment Forum and Asia Africa Economic Forum, as some of the events in line to ease the recovery process of Nigeria and Africa from the covid-19 pandemic.
