Valentine Ozigbo, the immediate past President and Group CEO of Transcorp Plc, has listed three myths detrimental to Nigeria’s economic development, which Nigerians widely believe.
Ozigbo revealed these myths when he delivered the keynote address at the first session of ‘Doing Business in Nigeria’ conference organised by Maurice Xandra Solutions Limited.
He described Nigeria as a land of abundant business opportunities, human resources, a beautiful climate and largely untapped potentials.
He, however, said that there were three myths that pervaded the consciousness of Nigerians, leading to erroneous conclusions and “inaction with regards to doing what it takes to reclaim the glorious destiny of our country.”
“One of these myths is the notion that ‘Nigeria is so unique that what works elsewhere doesn’t work here. The law of gravity works just the same in Nigeria as it does in Belgium. The laws of physics are not suspended in Nigeria. This has been demonstrated over time in business, banking, governance, entertainment, sports, education, and many other sectors. If we do things right here, we will get the proper outcomes.
“But our people persist in the erroneous belief that we are unique and that principles that work elsewhere do not work here. It is simply not true. Universal principles are universal. I believe that it is when people are confronted with local realities, traditions, customs, beliefs, cultural issues and unable to navigate through them, they give up and declare that ‘nothing works here’.
“The fact is they never really did the right things in the right way, and I believe getting things right begins with having the right mindset, right knowledge and right attitude for your mission.
The second and third myths are connected to the perception of the country’s crude oil revenue and mineral deposits. According to Ozigbo, there is a stunted view of the oil wealth of the country and an erroneous perception that “Nigeria is blessed with enormous mineral resources.”