Former Nigeria President, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo has admitted that he failed to create as many as 50 billionaire Nigerians all through his eight years as President.
“I always say it proudly that my aim when I was in government was to create 50 billionaires from Nigeria. Unfortunately I failed, because I created only 25.”
Obasanjo, who spoke at the second edition of the Tony Elumelu Foundation, said that successive governments after his administration failed to create enabling environments for potential investors.
Obasanjo, who did not name any of the 25 millionaires he produced when he was in power said: “You have to create a conducive environment for people who want to do business here. We have to make them wanting to come to Nigeria and if we cannot do that, we have failed. If you say you are doing that, let us see the results.”
He said that the difficulties faced by prospective investors coming to Nigeria and the challenges they face when setting up their businesses in the country are daunting.
“A situation where somebody wants to come to Nigeria to invest and it takes almost six days to get visa is not proper. In other countries, they would get visa at the airport. We need to be able to register a company at just one point. We have not taken advantage of all the opportunities we have to support our SMEs to be able to produce and sell outside our shores. And if we don’t do a lot of that, those of you (the TEF Entrepreneurs) may be frustrated.
“Let me tell you what I know. Agric and agri-processed products from Nigeria cannot enter into the United States. Even yams from Nigeria have to go through Ghana before going to America. You know why? There is a certification that is required for our agric produce to enter, which we don’t have. Simple thing, we don’t have, but Ghana has it. And it doesn’t take much to put that in place. Unless we have it, we can’t export these items to America.”
The founder of TEF, Mr. Tony Elumelu said 65,000 applications were received and the Foundation in the past two years was able to select only 2,000 due to limited resources. “Friends of Africa need to seek ways of helping those that were not selected, young Africans who can change the fortunes of Africa. In the 21st century, no one but Africans will develop Africa and those that are blessed.
“The rich should do more by re-investing in the young ones because what counts is not how much you have in a bank account but the legacy you leave behind and the impact made. Talks with the African development bank in advanced stage for the ADB to take up additional 1000 out of those that were not selected.” [myad]
