The African Development Bank (AfDB) has commended Nigerians for their resilience and entrepreneurial skills in the 59 years of the country’s existence. A statement issued by Mr Victor Oladokun, Director, Communication and External Relations of AfDB, said that Nigeria had achieved a lot in spite of its numerous challenges. “Its been a long road with many ups and downs, of dreams come-true and of visions unrealised. While there is still much to do and many mountains to climb, tenacity, hard work and a youthful entrepreneurial spirit are some of the things we love about this absolutely amazing country,’’ Oladokun said.
He said that since 59 years of Nigeria’s independence, the country had demonstrated faith and hope in its determination to grow as an indivisible nation. According to him, the country has shown strength in diversity with 200 million people living together even though tribe and tongue differ significantly. He said that the country had attained remarkable feats in many fields of endeavour but added that a lot more still need to be done. “For example, in sports and physical strength, it is still a wasted asset waiting for the addition of tremendous value. Long may the memories of visionary administrators such as Isaac Akioye and Sam Ogbemudia live.
“The sector is however, waiting for the birth of a new generation of visionary leaders to turn rough stones into fine diamonds,’’ he said. While commending the country’s entertainment industry, Oladokun said that more efforts must be put in place to improve on some imperfections. “No doubt the country has an array of talents like Bruce Onabrakpeya, Ben Enwonwu, Yusuf Grillo, Aina Onabolu and Chinwe Chukwuogo-Roy in arts. There are new starts in music like Don Jazzy, Tiwa Savage and Frank Edwards. There is Cobhams Asuquo, Mercy Chinwo, Onos Ariyo, Sinach, Jeremiah Gyang, Flavour & Semah and Timmy Dakolo.
“Nollywood has not only displayed excellent storylines but highly improved production values. A creative landscape waiting for the best of money, technology, and people to organise systems and structures into the multibillion dollar enterprise it deserves to be,’’ he said. According to Oladokun, Nigeria has positive cultural values and humungous tourist potential. “Nigeria is like a low hanging fruit, which with infrastructure and security can create millions of much-needed jobs across a vast value chain. More so, there is abundant natural resources including solid minerals of every kind waiting to be tapped, utilized in order to transform Nigeria’s development.’’ (NAN)
