From Tony Osauzo, Benin
Edo State-born business mogul, Ceasar Osaheni Iyayi, yesterday, tasked President Muhammadu Buhari to urgently synergise with the 36 governors to come out with strategies to industrialise the country.
Speaking to newsmen in Benin ahead of public presentation of his book entitled: “The ABC of how to Industrialise Nigeria,” Iyayi identified electricity as a key requirement.
“If we want to industrialise, we must have electricity and we can have it in nine months in clusters.”
To achieve this, he called on the Federal Government to authorise Nigerian entrepreneurs to use the gas being wasted to set up industries to create employment.
“The Federal Government and the governors should synergise to bring in LM 2500 that generate between 32-33 megawatts of electricity and connect to where gas is being flared. Each LM 2500 costs $11.3 million,” he said.
Iyayi while recalling that the developed world has set 2040 to phase out the use of fossil fuel, warned the country not to wait to be caught off guard, saying Africa has 18 years to start doing something, warning that “if we wait for 2040, it will be too late.”
He said Nigerians are arguably the smartest people on earth who have the sagacity and managerial ability to perform but noted that what is lacking is leadership and therefore stressed it is up President Buhari to give the country a direction, insisting that “what other countries cannot do, Nigeria can do it.”
Iyayi pointed out that there is no country in the world that was industrialised by foreigners, insisting that it is not too late for the president and the governors to galvanise the private sector and entrepreneurs, just as he called for the setting up of a team to brainstorm on the suggestions contained in his book with a view to implementing them.