Nigeria 'poor in management and leadership,' Tinubu tells Nigerians in India

President Bola Tinubu, currently in India for the G20 summit, shared his conviction with Nigerians during an interaction with them on Thursday evening.

The President called on Nigerians to harness the country's rich diversity as a unique and powerful tool to advance prosperity and national development for the benefit of all citizens, stressing that our diversity must be harnessed to drive economic growth , innovation and social progress.

“We are here to present you with a new future. The future of a country so rich, endowed and highly populated. Very dynamic, unique in its culture, tradition and ethnicity. This is what will make our prosperity possible if only we can use our diversity for prosperity,” he implored.

President Tinubu also told the meeting that he ran for the highest office in the country due to the fact that despite the nation's great wealth in human and natural resources, the leadership deficit and public sector management in the country was holding Nigeria back. of manifest destiny.

“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 shape the soul of our country in the right direction,” the president said.

Reflecting on his life's journey, which prepared him for leadership, the President told the meeting attended by several Nigerian students studying in India, that with dedication, honesty, determination and a change of mentality, they can reach for the peak of their respective careers.

“A good education brought me here and I am happy to stand here before you as the President of Nigeria. I started small. I was a security guard. I was a tutor at school. I was a brilliant student. I joined Deloitte and was trained by one of the largest accounting firms in the world, because of my education,” the president recalls.

"When I joined them, I asked them if you had any branches in Nigeria and they said, 'We have a lot of customers who will take you if you want to go home.' That's how I came to Exxon Mobil and was a very accomplished accountant, general auditor and treasurer until I entered politics with a can-do attitude.

“You can do it too; do not be discouraged in any way. Nigeria is ready to welcome everyone. It doesn't matter what part of Nigeria you are from,” exclaimed the president.

Foreign Affairs Minister Yusuf Tuggar, speaking to the students, explained that President Tinubu's foreign policy focus included four Ds, one of them being diaspora, which focuses on improvement in the quality of services that Nigerians in the Diaspora receive at the national level. Nigerian Missions Abroad.

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“The issue of passport delays will be a thing of the past. You won't have to wait forever for your passports to be ready. Secondly, you are the first point of contact between Nigerians and other countries. We cannot grow beyond what our collaborators project. This is why it is very important that you project a consistently positive image of Nigeria online and offline,” said the Nigerian foreign minister.

Earlier, business tycoon Tony Elumelu told journalists that Nigeria was the best place to invest and betting on Nigerians was one of the best bets one could ever make, citing Nigerian success in all countries of the world.

“We believe in Africa, but especially in Nigeria. An investment in Nigeria promises a return found virtually nowhere else in the world and I do business on several continents,” concluded the Africapitalist.

Ajuri Ngelale

Special Advisor to the President