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Former presidential candidate envisions Nigeria as global superpower in 15 years
Former Nigerian presidential candidate Chike Ukaegbu has expressed hope of Nigeria overcoming its current economic hardships to become a "superpower" in the next 15 years.
Chike in an interview with GSW's Ismail Akwei said that the West African nation has the potential to become a world giant under the right leader. The former presidential hopeful also stated that Nigerians excel wherever they find themselves and urged the leaders of the state to prioritise the welfare of its citizens to achieve this feat.
“As much as we're not happy about the current state of affairs. We're hoping that at some point our current leaders as we're hoping, will start to understand the importance of prioritising the lives and the welfare of the people. Nigeria is the largest black nation in the world. There is absolutely no reason why we cannot be a superpower. Nigerians leave Nigeria and they excel everywhere else,” Chike said.
“In the US, Nigerians are still the most educated… So it's not that we are incapable of being excellent. We just don't have people who understand the importance of building the nation for the benefit of the nation and the continent…I'm hoping that our elected officials, will start to see the importance of empowering their communities and start to do that right. So that even if as a whole we don't see that change happen immediately, we can start to see pockets of things happening that become bright spots that others can emulate if they can’t come up with it themselves. That's my hope so that in another 15 years, Nigeria will be definitely better than we are or where we are today,” he added.
Nigeria, Africa’s most populated nation with over 200 million people has experienced two economic recessions in the last seven years (2015–2021), with GDP growth averaging 1.1%, according to a 2023 Brookings report.
The nation's poor infrastructure, frequent power outages, housing issues, and a lack of decent roads, together with well-documented cases of corruption by government officials, are significant obstacles to the nation's economic progress.
