Chairman of Heirs Holdings and United Bank for Nigeria (UBA), Tony Elumelu has stressed the need for Africans and particularly Nigerians to work towards building the African continent, saying in spite of the emigration, those that stayed back should work on making an impact.
Elumelu in an interview with British newspaper, Financial Times, whilst stating his support for skilled young Nigerians emigrating said “I support it, totally. I don’t have a problem with people saying ‘I’m going to Canada, UK or US.’ Joblessness is the betrayal of a generation.
“You’ve gone to school and come back with your dreams and aspirations and you don’t have the opportunity. People who decide to find solutions elsewhere, no one should stop them. But for those who decide to stay, they should try to create an impact and build a legacy.”
Elumelu whose message of Africapitalism is based on the premise that the continent cannot grow solely through the government, and that the private sector should actively invest, especially when socioeconomic conditions are tough.
“We can sit here today and the easiest part of the conversation would be to talk about all the things that have gone wrong, all the things that people have failed to do. But therein lies the philosophy of Africapitalism.
For far too long, we have blamed foreign powers.
“We have blamed our own leaders. But what are we as the private sector doing to make things better? It’s a call on the private sector to stand up and show the way. Let us show the way through what is in our own power. We have the power to make investment decisions.”
“We need to take our destiny into our own hands and also, stop blaming people and stop this entitlement mentality that we were put where we are by others, therefore they must rescue us. If they put us where we are, why do you think those people will come to your rescue? Struggle, strive!” he stated.
Commenting on the progress of Heirs Holdings in the oil industry, he said around 42,000 barrels of crude is pumped out daily with theft still taking away about 18 per cent of production. “This is oil theft, we’re not talking about stealing a bottle of Coke you can put in your pocket.
“The government should know, they should tell us. Look at America — Donald Trump was shot at and quickly they knew the background of who shot him. Our security agencies should tell us who is stealing our oil. You bring vessels to our territorial waters and we don’t know?”
