Nigerian Institute of Management (Chartered) (NIM) just ended its annual general conference with the theme: Managing Nigeria’s Path to Sustainable Economic Growth and Prosperity. It was a beehive of activities with Government official, Fellows, Members and even good number of participants who were not Members. The President Dr. Mrs. Christiana Atako was at her best as the most eloquent of the Presidents of the Institute I have witnessed in two decades as a Member and subsequently a Fellow.

The lead paper was presented by Amb. Dr. Godnows Boladei Igali as he detailed out the challenges before the new Nigerian leadership and expects Nigerian leaders to look inward as there is abundance of what it takes to develop Nigeria in Nigeria. It seems however that lack of organizing such abundant resources, both human and material, for sustainable growth and prosperity persists.

Mallam Baba Yusuf and Mrs. Adesunmbo Adeoye pegged their interventions and moderators of participants’ contribution on investment management and start ups sustainability for the optimum profitability and incentivisation of the young ones, especially at start-up level.

The most turbulent and intriguing presentation that raised a lot of eyebrow was on energy as Professor Samuel A. Oyewole, from Texas, who had “Jappa” for almost 30 years, and CEO of Primegrid Energy Inc, revealed that solar energy is a ‘scam’. As a Ph.D holder in Energy and Renewable Energy Studies, he was worried that African government including Nigerian, have wrongly imbibed what ought to be mere back-up and seem to see it as the main energy source, and it has been gulping too much of their resources. He categorically stated that it is not worth investing in and it carried, even, health risk with panels positioned on people’s houses. Though I was not so sure of being convinced about that, it is a statement from the person who is seen as a guru on energy.

According to Prof. Oyewole, time has come for Africans to look inward as they do not need those solar panels to generate the energy required to power their development paths. It takes a lot of hectares of land if placed like wind energy harvesting with panels set out on expanse of land. And it is not cost effective. He feels that following the pattern of energy provision by China could be of great help; that China uses Yangtze River to enable the functioning of its Three Gorges Dam.

It serves the greatest industrial cities and sites of China. It is also of note that unlike Nigeria that has abandoned its use of coal in its industrial production, China is still using all the possible means of Water, Wind and Solar (WWS), but the greatest of all remain the China’s Sanxia, Three Gorges, on the Yangzi River generating 22,500MW built with 256,500 tons of steel. The steel Nigeria failed in producing till date with the death of Ajaokuta steel industry.

According to Oyewole, if only Africa could summon courage and make River Congo their own equivalent of Yangzi River, the whole Africa will be luminated, like African Development Bank’s President says of “light-up Africa”, and be a region to be reckoned with in World GDP. In buttressing his point, Vaclav Smil states that with just steady power supply, China had attracted over $230 billion foreign direct investment compared to less than $50 billion for India and below $40 billion for all of the sub-Saharan Africa. And this is sub-Saharan Africa where its diaspora remittance averaged almost $25 billion annually for the past 5 years showing that its diaspora population alone are capable of investing more if only the politicians are thinking right by being visionary and using what is within Africa to make the best out of the economy like the lead presenter and his catch phrase,

“Nigeria for Nigerians”, which, as far as I am concerned ought to mean using what is indigenous to Nigeria like the crude oil and human resources, including it “Jappa” resource to project Nigeria for the prosperity of Nigerians upon which they could be respected to move Africa forward; like Nigeria has enabled the brand known as Dangote to be highly respected, and it must spread to a greater number of Nigerians who could help make Africa great because Africa remains the “Ocean” in which a “big Nigeria” could swim with greater ease before being appreciated by the world; that is, if Nigerian leaders understand what it takes to sustain the position of Nigeria as the biggest and leading economy in Africa.

No power in the world rose to where they are without efficient use of its human resource coupled with the list, if ever, mineral resource available to them. Japan, Singapore, South Korea are good examples. Even, in Africa, Rwanda of Kagame is a good example of having nothing but proving excellent, and it is because Congo Democratic with its 95million population is failing, and as a neighbour, Rwanda with no fewer than 14million people is ripping from that. Just like failure of Nigeria in West Africa.

Nigeria is not lacking water resource and it is the hardest of what is needed to generate electricity as the brain power seems a bit uncoordinated to get it right, though not lacking.
Here is where Oyewole threw in a controversial catch phrase that got the NIM conference delegates murmuring: “Just have a borehole and a tank over it and you can generate your own IMW electricity”.

I was confused by that statement like many in the gathering; and he meant it and insisted on its practicability. I am not an Engineer and I expected the Fellows of NIM who are Engineers and Professors to react but no serious reaction. That it is feasible is a challenge to Engineers in Nigeria and they should work out the actualisation process.

NIM harbours great professional of all walks of life and it has been disappointing that it has not positioned itself enough, like other professional bodies in Nigeria, to be the lead in making Nigeria the “Africa’s symbol of Management Excellence, to upend its credo – To Be The Source of Management Excellence.

Luckily Senator George Akume is a Fellow of NIM as well as the current Secretary to the Government of the Federation. So, let the excellence show in his works as number one adviser and organiser of the current federal government.

Ariole is Professor of French and Francophone Studies, Unilag and Fellow of NIM.