August 21, 2021

Dr Jonathan Obaje, former President, Nigerians in Diaspora (NIDO) Singapore in Asia, says the situation in Afghanistan where citizens are being airlifted to other countries should challenge Nigerian leaders to ensure the development of the local economy.

He stressed the need for adequate investment in local contents development to promote self-reliance in Nigerians and Africans at large.

Obaje, a leading member of NIDO-Asia and Nigerian scientist based in Singapore, made the appeal in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Saturday.

The scientist was speaking against the backdrop of the Taliban take over of government in Afghanistan and the resultant evacuation of foreign nationals from the country by their home governments.

According to him, the practice whereby nations solely rely on international communities for aid in emergency situation without priority on local contents development, hinder sustainable national growth.

Obaje said: “Long theoretical analysis over foreign aids, procrastination, crying to high heavens and calling to UN, and other international bodies without developing local contents are of no much values for Nigeria and Africa development.

“The way forward for Nigeria and other countries in Africa is to look inwards; we must develop our resources for the benefits of our people and look inwards for indigenous political systems with less inherent conflicts.

“We have borrowed too many foreign political systems that are unsuitable for Africa; we borrowed many foreign political systems that divide, rather than help to unite our people.”

He noted that the call to look inwards and develop local contents had become important, as a lesson African leaders should derive from the fighting in Afghanistan.

He, therefore, stressed the need for African leaders to draw lessons from President Joe Biden’s message, as means to prioritise investment on local content development.

He quoted President Biden as saying: “American troops cannot and should not be fighting in a war and dying in a war that Afghan forces are not willing to fight for themselves.

“We gave them every tool they could need, we gave them every chance to determine their own future, what we could not provide them was the will to fight for that future.”

He, however, said although there is no country where there are no Nigerians, even if there are Nigerians living in Afghanistan, none had registered as a member of NIDO-Asia. (NAN)