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COVID-19 Pause: Need for National Reflection and Self Reliance
By Akinyele Okeremi
The COVID-19 pandemic brings to the fore a rare opportunity for African nations to reawaken and reconsider national strategies. However, if we needed an emergency, we have it. It hinges on our future.
It hinges on our children. It hinges on how we react to this timely reminder. Because it is difficult for anyone to have imagined that the world would get to a situation where local and international travels would be restricted while social and commercial activities are almost comatose.
The travel restrictions also have an adverse impact on the movement of goods and services. It is safe to state that global interdependence has never been challenged the way it is presently.
While the world will remain interdependent, it is necessary for countries, especially Africans, to consider their capabilities to respond to challenges to become more self-reliant than they currently are.
With all due respect to many brilliant Africans, who are trying to create value legitimately, many riches in Africa are created through corruption and rent seeking. The economic situation in economies that depend heavily on natural resources such as petroleum-like Nigeria are likely to suffer a balance of trade deficits and may become unable to meet their financial obligations except they consciously move into other areas that are capable of generating sustenance and possible foreign exchange. More importantly, the challenges of the balance of trade are national security concerns for African countries.
Most of the critical activities that determine security and actual sovereignty are not in the control of nationals of African countries. It is funny. Why is it that all the time African countries must go begging? Why is Africa always at the receiving end? Has anything ever happened in the world and Africa has offered help instead of begging for help? It tells you we are not thinking right and this is the same thing that has happened and not just in government but also in our private businesses.
Turn our youthful population into gold
African countries need to develop their abilities to create real value for themselves rather than expect wealth to come merely because we are endowed with natural resources (which we invite foreigners to exploit on our behalf).
Africa must gravitate towards productive and knowledge-based economies. Data shows that Africa is blessed with a young and well-educated population. This makes it possible for them to contribute to the economy beyond mere primary products. With proper national strategies and value systems, the teeming African youth can create solutions to the challenges that daily face them.
This is extremely dangerous as this makes many African countries to become mere glorified colonies that cannot make sound decisions in their own interests and may never stand by such decisions if they are ever taken because of pressure from the countries that control their critical assets and resources.
What this translates into is that we dare not disagree seriously with those countries; otherwise our security will be in jeopardy. The security of African nations must be in the hands of Africans in substantive terms and not mere lip service.
Provide internally created solutions
Africa needs to rise to the challenge of becoming a continent to reckon with for providing solutions to challenges of the world. With no fear of equivocation, many Africans all over the world are working hard and have achieved great successes in their respective careers but the challenge is why does it appear that Africans do well in the diaspora? But do not do well on African soil?
My stab at this is that the institutions in the African continent need to be developed and strengthened to ensure that we can produce guaranteed relevant leaders. Africa needs to take another look at its compensation mechanism.
There is an obvious need to ensure that the right processes and results are appropriately rewarded while unacceptable conducts are punished accordingly. As the balance of trade challenges stare brazenly at us, there is a need to encourage policies to conserve our financial resources.
We need to ensure that we consume what we produce and to produce what we consume. This will require hard work and heavy lifting on the part of the leadership at all levels of African society. We need to take another look at our food security – I do not know how much of our food is in our control as Africans and I am concerned about this.
Wean ourselves off foreign solutions
A cursory look at our financial and the banking systems in Nigeria reveals that more than 90% of applications run by Nigerian banks come from foreign countries, mostly from India. The implication is that the Nigerian financial system could be switched off remotely with an attendant consequence of social unrest and possible removal of structures and even governments.
While this may seem far-fetched, it is my honest opinion that the risk and possibilities are very present and discerning leadership need to take a closer look at the possibilities in doing their risk assessments and response preparation.
If Africa is to make the right progress in the right direction, we need to build our own society, create solutions to solve our own problems without the need for wholesale copy and paste. We will refer to the beautiful and nice works that are in existence in other countries, but we will only adopt them and own them wholly in Africa.
In conclusion, I posit that the challenges with our current level of development create a major opportunity for us to produce our own solutions to those challenges with minimal help from other countries. This will give us the opportunity to move towards development and simultaneously creating wealth for ourselves as a people.
Recently, I listened to an interview by a Ghanaian woman who said, “I do not blame you [Europeans] – you did and are doing [all this] for your survival; we [Africans] can’t blame you for that. The fact is, we [Africans] didn’t do enough for our own survival and we are still not doing enough for our survival – that is not your problem.”
The context is that Africans, nay Nigerians, are not doing enough for our survival as a nation and as a people. COVID-19 has just exacerbated the situation we have put ourselves and the ramifications will come home to roost now unless we reflect and put in place many structures that will make us self-reliant soon.
Dr Okeremi is the MD/CEO of Precise Financial Systems headquartered in Lagos, Nigeria.
A Federal High Court sitting in Lagos has adjourned the N12.3 billion loan controversy case involving the Chairman of Honeywell Group, Oba Otudeko, and three others, to June 11, 2025.
Oba Otudeko,
Justice Chukwujekwu Aneke postponed the case to allow time for either a peaceful settlement or the formal arraignment of the suspects.
The decision followed reports that negotiation are still ongoing between the parties involved for out-of-court settlement as advised by the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Lateef Fagbemi (SAN), who is trying to mediate.
During Thursday’s hearing, Otudeko’s lawyer, Bode Olanipekun (SAN), told the court that negotiations for an out-of-court resolution were still in progress.
Similarly, the lawyer for the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Bilikisu Buhari, acknowledged the discussions but asked the court to set a new date for arraignment in case the negotiations fail.
It will be recalled that at the last sitting of the court on March 17, Chief Wole Olanipekun (SAN) had informed the judge that a meeting involving all counsel had been convened at the instance of the Attorney General of the Federation.
He said that this was aimed at reaching a peaceful settlement of the case.
Olanipekun had also stated that substantial progress was made, and the AGF directed all parties to refrain from actions that could jeopardize the resolution process, including filing further applications.
The court will reconvene on June 11 to hear the outcome of the settlement talks or proceed with the arraignment if no agreement is reached.
The Zamfara State government has signed an agreement with Oracle to invest in youth development, workforce capacity building and the digital economy under Oracle University’s Skills Development Initiative (SDI).
The agreement was signed at Oracle’s Offices in London, United Kingdom, with Governor Dauda Lawal representing the Zamfara State government.
A statement on Wednesday by the Governor’s spokesperson, Sulaiman Bala Idris, explained that the development will foster collaboration between the Zamfara Information and Technology Development Agency (ZITDA) and Oracle.
Secretary to the State Government, two Special Advisers and the Executive Secretary of ZITDA were also present at the event, along with Siobhan Wilson, Oracle UK Country Leader and Senior Vice President, EMEA.
The statement said, “Zamfara State government has signed a strategic agreement with Oracle to drive digital skills development across the state.
“Facilitated through the Zamfara Information Technology Development Agency, the collaboration will use the expertise and learning services of both Oracle Academy and Oracle University in their digital transformation efforts.
“The collaboration signifies a commitment to education and a strategic investment in the future of Zamfara’s youth, workforce and digital economy.
“Oracle Academy, Oracle’s global philanthropic educational programme offers a robust portfolio of technology education teaching and learning resources, including curriculum and software access, to educators and students worldwide.
“With the support of the Zamfara Information Technology Development Agency, these resources will be made available to validate higher education institutions across Zamfara.
“ZITDA will help lead efforts to integrate Oracle Academy offerings into Zamfara’s higher education curriculum, equipping educators with the tools and resources they need to guide students in learning hands-on tech skills and toward Oracle’s professional certifications and foster a new generation of tech-savvy leaders.
“In addition, Oracle University’s Skills Development Initiative, a global programme that provides access to world-class learning and certification programmes at no cost to eligible learners, will further expand opportunities for learners in Zamfara.
“Through a co-branded Learning Portal in collaboration with ZITDA, Oracle University plans to provide free access to digital learning paths and foundational certifications for eligible participants across Zamfara. This includes curated learning journeys offering over 200 hours of professional-level training in high-demand areas such as Cloud, AI, Data Science and APEX development.”
In his remarks at the ceremony, Governor Dauda Lawal restated that the collaboration with Oracle is part of his administration’s commitment to transforming Zamfara into a hub of innovation, education, and digital excellence.
He said, “on behalf of the government and the good people of Zamfara State, I extend my deepest appreciation to Oracle for believing in our vision and for partnering with us on this transformative journey.
“What we are doing today goes beyond technology, it is about giving hope, creating opportunities and unlocking the future. By investing in digital education and innovation, we are offering real alternatives to poverty, to joblessness and to despair. I sincerely thank Oracle for standing with us, believing in the power of partnership, purpose, and shared dreams.
“Today, we are not just signing a document, we are making a promise, promise that every child in Zamfara will have a fair chance to dream, to learn, and to succeed. A promise that technology will be our bridge to a stronger, more inclusive economy. And, a promise that Zamfara will not merely participate in the digital revolution, we will lead it.”
The Minister of Power, Chief Adebayo Adelabu has expressed willingness to collaborate with Nigeria Atomic Energy Commission, NAEC, to facilitate the establishment of nuclear power plants in the country.
With power generation averaging 5,000 Megawatts for a population of over 230 million people, Chief Adelabu described nuclear energy as the energy of the future for Nigeria.
The Minister stated this in Abuja when the Acting Chairman of the Commission, Engr. Anthony Ekedewa, visited him.
A statement by the Ministry said the collaboration would boost power generation and stabilise the power sector as part of the reforms being undertaken in the sector.
As an advanced level of power generation, the Minister said the country would benefit significantly from a nuclear power plant especially, with the technology that will come in as it will make power generation less cumbersome.
He said the participation of the commission in the power sector was long overdue and promised to work with the agency.
Adelabu however advised against the proposed establishment of four power plants with capacity to generate 1200 MW each, by the Commission, explaining that modular nuclear reactor is the way to go especially with the way the government has decentralised the sector.
“This is an area that States can benefit from. A lot of investment has gone into the development of the commission over the years and Nigeria should start reaping from the investment”.
According to him, although the process is tedious and costly, the outcome is more beneficial to the country adding that nuclear power plant is an advanced stage of energy generation.
“I wish we are there already in this country, but we are not there yet. We should however ask ourselves, how much of the conventional source of energy have we exploited? Nuclear power plant tends to be at the lower end of concern over the years, but we have to understand that nuclear energy is the future of energy generation”, he added.
Earlier, Ekedawa briefed the Minister on the activities of the commission, which he said was established in 1976, by former President Olusegun Obasanjo as a military head of state.
He said, as a renewable energy, nuclear energy could power the entire country. He said the Commission is proposing the establishment of nuclear power plants with the capacity to generate about 1200MW.
“We want to work and partner with you in the area of power generation. We can be a base load for the country and we have two possible sites, Geregu in Kogi State and Idu in Akwa Ibom State. We have carried out the feasibility studies. This collaboration is part of our energy policy, but we are however limited by resources to undertake this project”, Ekedewa said.
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