The immediate past President and Group CEO of Transcorp Plc, Mr Valentine Ozigbo, has listed three myths detrimental to Nigeria’s economic development, which Nigerians widely believe.
Mr Ozigbo revealed these myths on Saturday, April 17, 2021, when he delivered the keynote address at the first session of the “Doing Business in Nigeria Conference”, organized by Maurice Xandra Solutions Limited.
According to him, one of a few global Kaizen Champions, Nigeria is a land of abundant business opportunities, human resources, a beautiful climate, and largely untapped potentials.
He maintained that these three myths pervade the consciousness of Nigerians, leading to erroneous conclusions and “inaction with regards to doing with it takes to reclaim the glorious destiny of the country.
Mr Ozigbo posited that these myths include the notion that ‘Nigeria is so unique that what works elsewhere does not work here, noting that the law of gravity works just the same in Nigeria as it does in Belgium, and that the laws of physics are not suspended in Nigeria.
The respected business leader maintained that this has been demonstrated over time in business, banking, governance, entertainment, sports, education, and many other sectors, adding that If citizens do things right here, they will get the proper outcomes.
He pointed out that the second and third myths are connected to the perception of the country’s crude oil revenue and mineral deposits.
According to Ozigbo, there is a stunted view of the oil wealth of the country and an erroneous perception that “Nigeria is blessed with enormous mineral resources”.
He urged Nigerians to get rid of the notion that Nigeria is oil-rich, noting that though it is an oil-producing country, it is not close to the top on the ladder of oil-producing countries.
Ozigbo said there is a belief that Nigeria has so much oil wealth, but this year, it is not ranked among the top 10 oil-producing countries in the world, and that the country is 15th behind a country like Mexico that we do not even consider to be ‘oil-rich’.
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“Yet, there is a belief that we have so much oil wealth. This year, Nigeria isn’t ranked among the top 10 oil-producing countries in the world. We are 15th behind a country like Mexico that we don’t even consider to be ‘oil-rich’.
“When we have a population of 200 million dependent on the crude oil produced in majorly five states out of 36 states. We are not oil-rich in any way. We would be, though, if at least 30 or even 20 of our states produced crude oil at the levels produced in Akwa Ibom, Delta, Rivers, and Bayelsa.
“The erroneous perception that we are oil-rich has held our imagination captive and stifled our creativity,” Ozigbo declared.
The third myth, he said has “held us back and perpetually kept us in a state of expectations that will never be met”.
“We are blessed with many natural resources, but they are not in enormous quantities compared with the global deposits of these resources,” Ozigbo declared.
Ozigbo questioned, “In which commercial commodities table does Nigeria rank as one of the top 10 producers? None. So, where did this fallacy that has done us great harm come from?”
Valentine Ozigbo is a leading aspirant in the November 6 governorship election in Anambra State. In his keynote speech, he offered practical steps for governments and businesses to kick-start Nigeria’s economy and usher in a new era of prosperity.
“True sustainable wealth comes from producing value and exchanging it for a higher value, consistently and in large volumes,” he said.
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