President Goodluck Jonathan has expressed his strong belief in the ability of Nigeria to attain industrialization the same way China did years ago.
“I believe in this country. I believe in our entrepreneurial spirit. If China can do it, I believe we can also do it.”
President Jonathan spoke today at the inauguration of the Advisory Committee for the Nigerian Industrial Revolution Plan at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
Jonathan was optimistic that if China could effectively, through its industrial and manufacutring sector, become the largest economy in the world, Nigeria can also achieve the same feat in Africa.
He said that it China had shown its ability to achieve what it has achieved, in terms of industrialisation in recent times, adding that from a purely agrarian economy in 1978 with high unemployment, little wealth, and little technology, the country rose to the admirable height among the comity of nations.
“Today, we (Nigerians) have a half trillion dollar economy by far the largest in Africa and we have the ninth largest workforce in the world. To accomplish this however, we must do things differently. We must begin to add value to our resources through research development. We must industrialise and the Nigerian Industrialisation Revolution Plan is our agenda to achieve this.”
Jonathan stressed that no country had become prosperous only by extracting and exporting its raw materials, adding that nations can only generate wealth for their people primarily by adding value to resources.
This, he explained, informed his decision to inaugurate the Nigerian Industrial Revolution Plan early in the year.
The 25-member committee has the Minister of Industry, Trade, and Investment, Segun Aganga, as the chairman and business mogul, Alhaji Aliko Dangote, as the Alternate Chair.
