Industrialist and Chief Executive Officer of Rimax Group, Chief Livinus Okwara, has harped on the need for Nigeria to scale up its industrialisation drive to be respected globally.
Speaking at a press conference on Friday in Lagos to herald his coronation as Nnandigbo in the Diaspora later this year, the philanthropist said Nigeria must get its priorities right by showing more than a passing interest in food security and industrialisation, emphasising the importance of knowledge acquisition.
He said before Nigeria considers atomic power, it must solve its hunger and shelter problems and work hard on how to survive through commerce and industry.
“Nigeria has to industrialise if it is to be respected the world over. We must feed ourselves first. We must industrialise and look after ourselves medically so that we can be in sound health to practise every endeavour we want to get involved in,” Okwara said.
He added, “Nigerians are out there trying to make ends meet and acquire knowledge. Since we are in an era of knowledge, it becomes more important to seek that knowledge. In agriculture, how to grow food sufficient enough to be able to help us is centred on knowledge. How to manufacture products is knowledge-based.
“How to educate ourselves is about knowledge. Everything is knowledge. You can acquire knowledge through constant practice, and you can acquire knowledge by being educated,” he said.
Sharing his mandate as the Nnandigbo of Nigerians in the Diaspora with newsmen, he noted that Nigerians of other tribes will not be discriminated against; announcing plans to build liaison offices across continents to attend to the needs of Nigerians abroad.
“We are going to have liaison offices in America, China, Africa, Asia, and the West Indies so that when Nigerians go there, they can identify themselves and we will share knowledge with them about their new country of residence is. Not now that when you go there, nobody will take care of you. But we promise to take care of you when you go there. Can you speak the language of the locality? We will help you in doing that. Are you familiar with their food?
“We will tell you where to feed. Nigerians will not be strangers in any part of the world where you find us. And we are there as soldiers from our own country.”
He further stated: “There are people who do not even know their objective of leaving the country in the first place. They get involved in acts that dent the image of the country. That’s part of the challenge. That is why we will go there to see Nigerians who are there and tell them not to get involved in what would tarnish their family’s image. Going there is an investment in knowledge, and when they bring the knowledge back home, it will be to the benefit of Nigeria.”
He commended President Bola Tinubu for what he described as his bold policies, adding that they may seem harsh but “they are falling on fertile ground.”
