President Bola Tinubu says Nigeria’s diversity can be harnessed for the country’s development and economic growth.
The president, who is currently in India for the G-20 Summit, shared his conviction with Nigerians during an interaction with them on Thursday evening.
The president called on Nigerians to harness the country’s rich diversity as a unique tool for advancing prosperity and national development for the benefit of all citizens, emphasising that it must be leveraged to drive economic growth, innovation, and social progress.
“We are here to present a new future to you. A future of a country that is so rich, endowed, and highly populated. Very dynamic, unique in its culture, tradition, and ethnicity. That is what will make our prosperity possible if only we can make use of our diversity for prosperity,” he implored.
Ajuri Ngelale, the special adviser to the president on media and publicity, said Tinubu also told the meeting that he ran for the highest office in the country because of the leadership and public sector management deficit in the country which held Nigeria back from manifest destiny, despite the great human and natural resource wealth.
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“We are not poor in knowledge. We are not poor in human resources. We are only poor in management and leadership, and that is why I ran for president, to help all of us mold the soul of our country in the right direction,” the president said.
Reflecting on the trajectory of his life, which prepared him for leadership, the president told the meeting that comprised several Nigerian students studying in India, that with dedication, honesty, determination, and a change of mindset, they can reach for the top in their respective careers.
“Good education brought me here and I am happy to stand before you here as the President of Nigeria. I started small. I was a security guard. I was tutored in school. I was a brilliant student. I joined Deloitte and was trained by one of the biggest accounting firms in the world”
“When I joined them, I asked them, Do you have branches in Nigeria and they said, ‘We have a lot of clients that will take you if you want to go home.’ That’s how I got to Exxon Mobil and was a very successful accountant, auditor-general, and treasurer until I joined politics with a can-do attitude.
“You can also do it; do not be despondent in any way. Nigeria is ready to accommodate all. It does not matter which part of Nigeria you are from,” the president said.
Yusuf Tuggar, the minister of foreign affairs, while addressing the students, explained that President Tinubu’s foreign policy thrust included four Ds, with one of them being Diaspora, which focuses on improving the quality of services that Nigerians in the Diaspora receive at Nigerian Missions abroad.
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“The issue of passport delays will be a thing of the past. You won’t have to wait indefinitely for your passports to be ready. Secondly, you are the first point of contact between Nigerians and other countries. We can’t grow beyond what our people project. That is why it is important for you to project a consistently positive image of Nigeria online and off-line,” the minister said.
Earlier, business magnate, Tony Elumelu, told pressmen that Nigeria was the best place to invest and that a bet on Nigerians is one of the best bets anyone can ever make, citing Nigerian success in all countries of the world.
“We believe in Africa, but especially in Nigeria. An investment in Nigeria promises a return that is scarcely found anywhere in the world and I do business across several continents,” Elumelu said.
