A former Nigerian President, Olusegun Obasanjo has warned foreign nationals and investors doing business in Nigeria to stop undermining the nation’s self-reliance in their business dealings with Nigeria, saying that their dealings should be mutually beneficial.
He was speaking in Abeokuta, the Ogun state capital during an interactive session with members of the Indian Professionals Forum, where he sought more trade and economic relations with the two countries
Giving an outlook of the Nigerian economy, the former president expressed optimism that Nigeria is capable of surpassing the 1% national growth, predicted by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) an the World Bank if more attention is paid to agriculture sector of the nation’s economy.
”I want to say it as it is, there are some Indian companies who have been doing what they would not have done in their country and that is unfortunate – I hope those of you who are doing the right thing who really make us proud of our association with India will make sure that this type of thing is stopped.
“Such actions not only give Nigeria a bad name, they are also giving India a bad name, they give businesses generally in this part of the world a bad name but we should not allow them to go away with it.
”A situation where Jollof rice is being prepared and shipped to Nigeria is ridiculous to the extreme. If that is done by an Indian company, such company should be condemned, that is not what we want – what we want is something that will really enhance our capacity of achieving what we should be – self reliance and making contributions to the global economy and that, we should be able to do.
”The projection by the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank is that we will grow by 1% by this year, I believe that if we do very well in the Agriculture sector during this raining season, we may even do a little bit better than that. So, the outlook for the Nigerian economy is good, it is bright and all of us who are in business with Nigeria must now be prepare to take advantage of the up that is coming to us in Nigeria,” Obasanjo stressed.
