President Muhammadu Buhari recently visited Dubai and participated in the ninth edition of Annual Investment Meeting. As a Nigerian, I appreciate the enthusiasm, appeal and interest Mr. President is attracting on the international scene.
It is a positive development and a pointer that the president’s image in eyes of the international community is laced with integrity and unblemished track record earned through abhorrence for corruption and body language that is against thieving of public pulse.
No doubt, such international perception about Mr President is enough catalyst to attract foreign direct investments (FDIs) into Nigeria only and only if Mr President will do his homework by assembling the best hands to ensure that electric power is available to run the economy.
Here I wish to add that investor confidence is earned and sustained not only by self esteem and positive image of leaders alone but also by a policy direction that supports the provision of critical infrastructure that are the drivers for growth and industrialisation.
If we cannot get power right, then industrialisation and economic growth will remain a wishful thinking and a mirage.
No serious investor would invest in a vacuum without sufficient, consistent and uninterrupted power supply. Nigeria is just a large investment vacuum that would continue to repel any serious would be investor no matter how they love Mr President!
In the recent past, some of the automobile industries that set up assembly plants in Nigeria were reported to have relocated to Ghana due mostly to power related constraints.
To sustain investor confidence in Nigeria, a deliberate infrastructure revolution must be put in place. Power is the tripod on which industrialisation stands and blossoms; and must be in place.
Auwal Sani Adam,
H38, Nassarawa Filin Ball,
Jos North, Plateau state.