Like hundreds of thousands of Nigerians, I supported erstwhile Central Bank governor Chukwuma Soludo, an outstanding economist and practical man of ideas, in his quest to become the Anambra State governor in 2010 because of his grand vision to create an African version of Dubai and Taiwan. Soludo’s vision represented a remarkable deviation in Nigerian politics which has for decades been preoccupied with divisive issues, rather than development.

The world will not take Africa seriously until we begin to develop. Mohammed Al Maktoum, the modernizing ruler of Dubai, in his book entitled Flashes of Thought, notes: “our region and its peoples are in dire need of a successful model in the (African) world—one that gives hope and proves that focusing on growth is better than focusing on wars; that launching projects is far more useful than launching rockets”. Unlike many Africans who follow the Kwame Nkrumah maxim “seek you first the political kingdom and every other thing will be added unto you”, a parody of a scriptural passage, Al Maktoum subscribes to the primacy of economic development. “We believe that a state with economic power also reaps the benefits of political power”, he writes.... <<< read more >>> www.jcdbgist..com