Indigenous Approach Only Way For Nigeria Development – ASUU Leader

The former President of Academics Staff Union of Universities ( ASUU) Professor Biodun Ogunyemi has said that one major way to bring out Nigerians from economic hardship is to go back to indigenous approach to development.

He explained indigenous approach to development as transforming raw materials into value added products for exporting.

In an interview with Ogunyemi on Rave FM Osogbo on Thursday, he pinpointed that Nigerians needs to go back to Agricultural sectors where the raw materials like Tomatoes, Cocoa can be transform into value added product for exporting.

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He added that transforming those raw materials into value added products will make Nigeria’s foreign exchange reserve to rise as a result of having products she is exporting into neighbouring country.

He further stated that a country is underdeveloped when she cannot transform the potential she have into assets.

“What are we doing with Agriculture? If we can feed ourselves as a way of starting, if we can have a development that emphasis value chain in agricultural sector for instance, we will move from seeking hand produce as raw materials and we will transform them into value added products and we can also export.

“So, we need an export base economy not import base economy but this underdevelopment partners which our rulers wrongly called development partners.

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“We need an indigenous approach to development, a development that has basis on what we can do for ourselves and not relying on what outsiders will do for us, that has been missing.

“Like we said, agriculture used to be the basis of our economic production in the early sixty’s petroleum products only came and even as at now we still see crude oil as raw material and we cannot add value.

“If we go back to agricultural sector where we can easily add values, we can translate our cocoa to chocolate, we can transfer our tomato to tomato paste things like that, we will begin to have small small products that we can export to neighbouring country.

“And our foreign exchange reserve will begin to rise, but now we import everything including toothpick, how can we develop as a country and those money lenders they encourage it because they will keep giving you loans that you will use to import especially from their countries.

“We need a long time plan and that plan must be erected on a philosophical foundation that tells everybody in clear term that were trying to build a new nation a new nation that has root here and not there because is like every Nigerians now look outside.

“A country is underdeveloped when you have a potential you can not transform into assets.”