President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has said his mission in Aso Rock Villa is to shape Nigeria’s future.
He told the Nigerian community in India that he ran for office as President to sort out the leadership and public sector management deficit.
According to him, Nigeria has what it takes in knowledge and resources to rank among the world’s developed nations once the leadership deficit is sorted out.
Speaking in New Delhi, capital of India, during a meeting with the Diaspora Nigerians in the Asian country, the President noted that despite the great human and natural resources, the deficit in leadership had held Nigeria back from manifesting its destiny.
The President told his audience from different parts of India, that he had come to present to them his vision of a new future for Nigeria.
The President called on Nigerians to harness the country’s rich diversity as a uniquely powerful tool for advancing prosperity and national development for the benefit of all citizens. He emphasized that our diversity must be leveraged to drive economic growth, innovation, and social progress.
He said,
“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.
“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 to mould the soul of our country in the right direction.”
Reflecting on the trajectory of his life, which prepared him for leadership, the President that with dedication, honesty, determination and a change of mindset, they can reach for the top in their respective careers.
He was addressing the gathering which had in attendance several Nigerian students studying in India.
The President said,
“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 tutor in school. I was a brilliant student. I joined Deloitte and was trained by one of the biggest accounting firms in the world, because of my education.”
“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.”
Foreign Affairs Minister Ambassador Yusuf Tuggar said the President’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.
He said,
“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 very important for you to project a consistently positive image of Nigeria online and off-line”.
Chairman of the United Bank for Africa Mr. Tony Elumelu, told reporters that Nigeria remains the destination of choice for investors.
The business mogul, who is Founder of Heirs Foundation, said that a bet on Nigerians is one of the best bets anyone can ever make, citing the successes attained by Nigerians across the globe as his witness.
Elumelu said,
“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.”
The President is due to attend the meeting of G-20 slated for tomorrow and Sunday. He arrived in India on Monday on the invitation of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
He travelled with the country’s key business leaders and industrialists across all sectors to attend Window-Nigeria Business Leaders Interface. He has secured huge investment promises from big time India investors.
