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Posted by Hon. Emeka Okafor
Words on the Marble... Atiku Abubakar Shares the Naked Truth!
In 19 Tweets, read what Nigeria's former Vice President and ardent advocate of Restructuring said at the prestigious University of Nigeria, Nsukka last week...
1. For the last decade, Nigeria has made an average of $30 billion per annum from oil.
2. This may look like a lot of money, but when you factor in our population of close to 200 million people growing at one of the highest rates in the world at 2.6% per annum, that money starts to look relatively small.
3. We must begin to look for other and more sustainable sources of income that are also realistic.
4. Africa, especially sub-Saharan Africa, imports 82% of her food from outside the continent.
5. Every year, Africa spends $35.4 billion on food imports from Europe, Asia and America.
6. I have been to virtually all the world’s continents and too many of her nations, and scientists everywhere agree with what the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) says, that Africa and particularly Nigeria has some of the most fertile soils on planet earth.
7. Why can’t most of that $35.4 billion, which is bigger than our annual revenues from oil, come to Nigeria instead?
8. It is not coming now because our focus is on how to share the $30 billion we get from oil every year and when your focus is on sharing, you cannot be creative.
9. The whole purpose of Restructuring is to eliminate those policies that feed the mindset that drives the sharing behaviour so that we can have a paradigm shift towards a mindset that drives creative and productive behaviour.
10. We do not have to look too far. We are already seeing it in Nigeria.
11. I just told you that I was recently in the U.K.
12. One of the things I learned on that visit is that Britain is very pleased with the increase in vegetable imports from Nigeria especially pumpkin leaves.
13. You in the Southeast call it ụgụ.
14. One state, Anambra, has decided to take her share of the $35.4 billion Africa spends importing food and is now exporting ụgụ to other nations including the U.K.
15. Some oil producing states are owing workers’ salary, Anambra is not owing.
16. A number of oil producing states took the Federal Government bailout, Anambra did not take it.
17. Anambra State is proof that restructuring is good for our states and will not bankrupt them.
18. If Anambra, a state that suffers from soil erosion and has a very high population density, can export £5 million worth of pumpkin leaves to foreign nations, 1 million tubers of yam to Europe and millions of dollars-worth of scent leaves, locally known as nchụanwụ, then much larger states like Kano, Borno, Kaduna, Kwara, Ogun and Rivers should be able to do even more.
19. The time has come to say the truth.
Tweets from the transcript of Atiku Abubakar's speech at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka on the occasion of the Senior Staff Club Lecture Series on Restructuring Nigeria/Award of Excellence in Good Governance on him and his Investiture as Life Member of the Senior Staff Club, University of Nigeria, Nsukka.
Wednesday 19th July, 2017.
Wednesday 19th July, 2017.
