- He made the remark in Lagos on Saturday as the Chairman of a public lecture organized by The Companion, an association of Muslim men in business and the professions.
*Photo: Alhaji Oladejo*
President of the Muslim Ummah of South West Nigeria ( MUSWEN), Alhaji Rasaki Oladejo has called for an “home-grown industrial revolution ” in the country.
He made the remark in Lagos on Saturday as the Chairman of a public lecture organized by The Companion, an association of Muslim men in business and the professions.
*L-R: Alhaji Zikrullah Kunle Hassan, Chairman National Hajj Commission of Nigeria (NAHCON); Prof Tajudeen Gbadamosi; Alhaji Waliu Onibon, Alhaji Oladejo and Engr Kamil Olalekan, The Companion National Amir*
According to Alhaji Oladejo, ” For any meaningful and sustainable development, it is high time the government jettisoned the long pretences to superficial development without the perquisite developmental superstructure. Now is the time to begin to face the reality of inevitability of a home-grown industrial revolution.”
The Deputy President General (South) of the Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs (NSCIA) added that ” In other words, Nigeria must start its own industrial revolution now if we must make any genuine headway in our desire to truly develop. “
Read the full speech below:
THE CATEGORICAL IMPERATIVE OF A GENUINE NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT
BEING THE CHAIRMAN ‘s REMARKS BY THE PRESIDENT OF MUSWEN/DEPUTY PRESIDENT GENERAL (SOUTH), NIGERIAN SUPREME COUNCIL FOR ISLAMIC AFFAIRS (NSCIA), ALHAJI RASAKI OLADEJO, FCS, AT A PUBLIC LECTURE ORGANISED BY THE COMPANION ON SATURDAY, AUGUST 19, 2023.
Assalam alaykum wa rahmatullah wa baarakatuhu.
I want to commend The Companion for thinking up this very important lecture at this critical point in the nation’s development. The lecture topic, “Building a Nigeria that Works for All: Prospects and Challenges”, is very apt, as it is akin to hearkening to a genuine clarion call by a government that is intent on making a difference but obviously overwhelmed by the inherited developmental challenges that are so enormous that could easily make the lilly-livered chicken out without batting an eyelid.
So, this public lecture, coming at this crucial juncture in the nation’s history is a patriotic acceptance by The Companion to make their contribution to the pool of fecund ideas from which the nascent administration headed by our dear brother, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, GCFR, would be expected to tap in his avowed determination to put the nation’s development on a high throtle this time around.
I trust the ability of the Distinguished Guest Lecturer, Prof. Mahfouz Adedimeji, to do justice to the topic and I don’t intend to preempt his fertile submissions with this short opening remarks of mine. However, it may not be totally out of place if I briefly weigh in on what I consider to be a categorical imperative, a sine qua non in the developmental road map of this country.
For any meaningful and sustainable development, it is high time the government jettisoned the long held pretences to superficial development without the perquisite developmental superstructure. Now is the time to begin to face the reality of the inevitability of an home-grown industrial revolution.
In other words, Nigeria must start its own industrial revolution now if we must make any genuine headway in our desire to truly develop.
It is no longer sustainable to continue to depend on development models forced down our throats by the West, whose real intent is anything but altruistic. To develop the Nigerian economy, we must adopt an economic model which is focused on sustained investment in infrastructure areas of power or electricity, transportation, gas and energy and digital technology. Investing in all the four segments will bring about significant investment activities by the Private sector thus helping to diversify the economy.
The diversification of the economy, will create hundreds of thousands and millions of jobs and thus lifting millions of Nigerians out of poverty. We must therefore consciously work towards attaining this developmental model which strongly supports the Private sector to unlock wealth that will significantly reduce poverty in the country.
With these few remarks, I warmly welcome everybody to this very important lecture with the potential of proving to be a game changer in our country’s struggle to chart a true path to genuine development.
Assalam alaykum wa rahmatullah wa baarakatuhu.
Rasaki Oladejo, FCS.