Former Nigerian permanent representative to the United Nations, Alhaji Yusuf Maitama Sule has attributed the country’s wasted opportunities to bad leadership.
Ambassador Sule said the country started off very well at the same time with Brazil but lost it midway because the leaders mismanaged the nation’s resources.
He recalled that Nigeria used to be at par with India and Brazil, but unfortunately, the two countries are today poles ahead of Nigeria in terms of technological advancement and economic prosperity.
“If we had used proceeds from oil very well, Nigeria would have been another Dubai; if not a better country. Unfortunately, oil has brought us some curse”, Ambassador Sule lamented.
Delivering a keynote speech at the 8th annual forum of the Nigerian National Order of Merit Awardees in Abuja recently, the elder statesman regretted that while Brazil which established Defence industries at the same time with Nigeria manufactures ships, aeroplanes, bombs and weapons, the Defence Industries Corporation of Nigeria (DICON), Kaduna, only boasts of producing furniture.
“At Independence, Nigeria was at par with India and Brazil. Today, India has made it. India is a nuclear power. In the field of computer technology, India is in the forefront. India is the second fastest growing economy, second only to China because they had good leaders. India builds ships; India manufactures planes, weapons, cars in spite of their differences, only because they had good leaders.
“Brazil also has made it. Today, Brazil has stronger economy than Great Britain. Brazil’s agricultural programme is the best in the world. Brazil builds ships and manufactures planes amongst other things. Brazil too has made it.
“Brazil and Nigeria started their defence industries the same year. While Brazil defence industry is producing all these things – ships, cars, planes, bombs, all manner of weapons, the best agricultural programme in the world, we here in Nigeria that started the same time with Brazil are still nowhere to be found. We can only manufacture furniture in our Defence Industries in Kaduna”, the elder statesman stated. (Daily Sun)
To Sir: Oil needed not be a curse, the primary curse are successive toxic leadership, stunted and repressed innovative ideas and ‘top-down’ self-centredness where those who are entrusted to enable continue to disable and repress, both interms of intellect and developmental growth. The core deficits had led to where we are today; ‘living the shame’ of regression and recession. In the main, any objective observer will agree with the philosophy that when the head is rottening, the whole body goes along with it. Maybe, and a real maybe, Nigeria will get out of many decades of the quagmire it continues to wallow in.