A former Minister of Foreign Affairs, Prof. Bolaji Akinyemi, has said Nigeria has what it takes to be a global power.
Speaking on Saturday during a zoom meeting with the theme, ‘Opportunity and Challenges of BRICS’, organised by the Academy of International Affairs, the ex-minister stated that Nigerians must change the negative perception and stop de-marketing the country.
He said, “Nigeria has the capability to be a global power and the ideas of how to get there are all on the table; they are obvious. Whatever we need to do to get there; I don’t believe our economy is bankrupt. I know what J.P. Morgan said. That is what they said about India and Turkey. That xyz is the sick man of Europe and the sick man of Europe all of a sudden becomes the big man of Europe. People will try to run us down, but we must accept that the fault, when it is ours, must be corrected.
“We should probably go after three things: leadership, discipline, and a reformation of ourselves to believe in Nigeria and not to find reasons why we should continue to de-market Nigeria.”
The event, which centered on Nigeria’s inability to become a member of BRICS and the implications, had in attendance former ministers and ex-ambassadors, including a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Femi Falana.
The former Director-General of the Nigeria Institute of International Affairs, Prof. Bola Akinterinwa, in his address, stated that Nigeria should provide leadership as a leading country in Africa.
He also said a similar organisation as BRICS could be created by Nigeria as the concept of medium powers.
He said, “I believe that in moving forward, and because membership of the BRICS is unnecessarily becoming unwilling, I think Nigeria can give itself a personality. We too can create our own idea of the concept of medium powers.
“Let Nigeria provide leadership in various ramifications and then let the world know that Nigeria is Nigeria. Let us borrow from Robert Mugabe who said that Africa without Nigeria is hollow. We can be having our own problems, but the beauty of it all is that South Africa, Sierra Leone, and Kenya cannot suddenly in one day have Nigeria’s population; Nigeria still remains the world capital of black people.”
