Nigeria is a country that has over the years frittered away the opportunities to become a great nation. Given her endowments in human and natural resources, it is a country with a lot of potentials. But, such potentials have been spoken of for too long without any serious effort to bring them to fruition. Experts have attributed Nigeria’s failure to attain true greatness, in spite of her potentials, to the absence of a national vision, coupled with the depressing selfishness and greed of the ruling elite, as well as the fact that successive leaders have not been able to run the country on a democratic basis.
It is against this background that experts say that the current economic recession may be a blessing in disguise, because it is an opportunity for the country to wake up and begin to take steps that would help to revamp the economy.
The recent Ninth Bola Tinubu Colloquium in Lagos was put together to show how the country can get out of the maze it has found itself and begin to chart the path of progress. The colloquium, which took place under the theme, ‘Make It in Nigeria: Use What We Make; Make What We Use’, showcased the diverse and strong spirit of enterprise inherent in the country. It also challenged everyone to wake up, by changing their thinking and values. The consensus was that, if Nigeria makes what it uses and uses what it makes, then, the transition from a poor to a rich nation will become a reality.
The colloquium, which was organised to mark Asiwaju Bola Tinubu’s 65th birthday anniversary, was an occasion to pour encomiums on the celebrant. It was also an opportunity for serious talk about the economy. It featured some young, talented Nigerians blazing a trail in different areas of endeavour. It also featured a foremost businessman, the Chief of Air Staff, two Ministers, the host Governor and President Muhammadu Buhari, who was represented by the Minister of Internal Affairs, Lt-Gen. Abdulrahman Danbazau.
The ceremony was witnessed by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo (SAN), former Vice President Namadi Sambo, 12 Governors, other top government functionaries, leading politicians, traditional rulers and close associates of the APC National stalwart.
Some of the young talents showcased at the colloquium include: Seun Abolaji, a co-founder of Hello Sunshine, makers of Wilson’s lemonade; Blondie Okpuzor, the Chief Executive Officer and Founder of Bathkandy, a manufacturer of beauty and skincare products; Ndidi Nwuneli, a co-Founder of A ACE Foods, an indigenous agro-processing company; and Abraham Isaac, leader of the Socart Team, which developed a solar-powered car at the Federal University of Technology, Minna, Niger State.
Others are: David Aderounmu, Managing Partner, Tempo Housin
g Nigeria; Innocent Chukwuma, the Founder and Chairman of the Innoson Group; Nasir Yammama, Creative Technologist and Founder of Verdant; Kenneth Gyang, an award-winning Film Producer and Director; Jude Abaga, a hip-hop recording artist and producer, popularly known as M.I.; and Biola Alabi, Founder and Managing Partner of a media consultancy and production company.
What these Nigerians have in common is that they have taken to heart a dedication to not only survive and thrive, but to create a future, where they bring value to many people – employers, investors and consumers. After narrating how he transformed his small trading business into a conglomerate through his ingenuity, Chukwuma received a standing ovation from the audience. Chukwuma who started in 1981, broke boundaries by becoming the first private Nigerian to locally assemble and subsequently manufacture motorcycles, as well as vehicles. Under his leadership, Innoson Nigeria Ltd moved from trading and importation to manufacturing of motorcycle parts and also the establishment of other companies: Innoson Tech & Industries, manufacturers of tyres and tubes; Innoson Vehicle Manufacturing (IVM) company, which manufactures buses, trucks and garbage collecting vehicles, and Innoson Wood Industrial Processing Company, which processes wood for local use and export.
He said: “I started by trading in motorcycle and motor spare parts. Normally, I would come to Lagos and buy from companies like Leventis. But, today, people come to buy from me. I produce all my components; I have the largest plastic company in West Africa. I emphasize, we are manufacturing, not assembling motorcycles, cars and trucks.”
Abolaji started producing Wilson’s Juice in 2010 as a smoothie and fresh-squeezed juice stand at Convenant University, Otta, Ogun State. With time, the customers grew to love their lemonade so much that the business quickly focused on lemonade production. The breakthrough came in 2011, when he pointed out to his brother and partner, Seyi, that they should start bottling the lemonade, instead of just selling it in cups. That was how Wilson’s Juice was born. Abolaji said they chose the name Wilson to give the juice a universal appeal and make acceptable anywhere in the world.
Today, Wilson’s Juice is the premier beverage brand in Nigeria, particularly when it comes to those not made from concentrate.
The company employs over 50 young Nigerians. Its commitment to sourcing its raw materials locally and processing real fruit-based products provides numerous employment opportunities for women and youths in rural communities.
His partner, Seyi, said the Nigerian spirit of enterprises is commitment to excellence. His words: “It is about striving for excellence, day in, day out; it is about going the extra mile; it is about doing the right thing well, irrespective of who is watching, even when no one is watching. This is the Nigerian spirit of enterprises.”
Aderounmu, who is in the business of converting containers into durable houses, said Nigeria has a housing deficit of 17 million. He said was motivated into the business because he was opportune to witness the conversion of such containers into houses in London and that there are containers all over the place in Nigeria.
The young entrepreneur, who studied aeronautical engineering at the University of Manchester, Manchester, England, said: “To Nigerians, the enterprise spirit is very hustle-oriented. So, regardless of all the obstacles we face, we still hustle to our end goal. Sometimes, some people take it to the negative way, which is a negative stigma that we have about Nigerians, where some people use our enterprising abilities to do fraud. But majority of Nigerians are hustlers and when you transfer that intro business, I think we always manage to find results.”
The Chief of Air Staff, Air Marshal Sadique Abubakar, was one of the keynote speakers. He spoke on efforts by the Air Force to achieve self-reliance, by producing spare parts locally for aircrafts, instead of importing them at exorbitant cost. For instance, he said Nigeria is saving about N38million it would have spent on importation on every six hydraulic accumulator diaphragms for MI-35 helicopter.
The Chairman/Managing Director of Dangote Group of Companies, Alhaji Aliko Dangote, spoke on the challenges of doing business in Nigeria and efforts by his conglomerate to make the country self-sufficient in a number of sectors of the economy.
He said inconsistency in government policy has been the bane of industrial development over the years, but that there is a glimmer of hope this time around, because the country is moving in the right direction.
Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Dr. Okechukwu Enelamah, assured previous speakers, who lamented about the difficult business environment, that the Federal Government is making efforts to provide an enabling environment for investors. His words: “If you listened carefully to our young entrepreneurs and Alhaji Dangote, you would have realised that the biggest problem facing entrepreneurs is the hostile business environment.” He said the Federal Government is taking a number of steps under its Economic Recovery and Growth Plan (2017 to 2020) to surmount these challenges.
His Finance counterpart, Mrs. Kemi Adeosun, said the federal government had released NI trillion for capital expenditure to foster a productive economy and that Nigeria was set to put the economic recession behind it.
“We need to support the economy with the infrastructure needed to create jobs for our young people. We will change Nigeria by consuming what we make for Nigeria to survive.”
Mrs. Adeosun, who noted that Lagos was working because of its effective tax mechanism, said nobody could blame the state for collecting tax. She hinted that the Federal Government would soon embark on an aggressive tax drive targeted at the rich. She said the government will insist on the collection of its rightful tax from evasive rich citizens and corporate organisations.
Aside from the entrepreneurship and the challenges of doing business in the country, most of the speakers seized the opportunity to pour encomiums on the celebrant. President Muhammadu Buhari, who was represented by Lt-Gen. Danbazau, extolled Tinubu’s virtues, describing him as “an outstanding Yoruba politician of this generation, a great mobiliser and a man of foresight,” who helped to unseat the Dr. Goodluck Jonathan administration.
He described the theme of the colloquium as “very apt”, adding that it was desirable that Nigeria should look inward and develop its economy through the rejection of unnecessary imports and production of goods for home consumption. He said the Federal Government was already putting policies in place to encourage small and medium scale enterprises to promote locally produced goods.
Similarly, Governor Akinwunmi Ambode said the theme of the colloquium was apt, stressing that the partnership between Lagos and Kebbi State, which culminated in the production of the Lake Rice, bore eloquent testimony to the capacity of the country to become a productive nation. He assured all that his administration would continue to improve on the indices of ease of doing business to facilitate the manufacturing of locally made products.
Tinubu reflected on the state of the economy, urging the federal government to press forward in its national industrial policy and national infrastructural plan. He lent his voice to the crusade for a productive economy, saying: “Not only, must we use what we make and make what we use, we must fix our minds to make what the; world values.”
He acknowledged that the Buhari administration had started the process of economic renewal, adding that the reforms to salvage the economy should be supported by Nigerians.
The former Governor also advised the Federal Government to bring back the giant manufacturing firms that had left the country through novel incentives and creation of a conducive climate. He said young entrepreneurs should be nurtured, encouraged and assisted to succeed in a bid to harvest their talents for national productivity.
