US Ambassador Urges Nigerians to Invest in Nigeria
As FG designates Lagos’ Tomaro Island as FTZ
The United States Ambassador to Nigeria, Mr. Stuart Symington has urged Nigerians to invest in the Nigeria so as to have the right to complain when things are not going right within the system.
This is coming as federal government has declared the Tomaro Island in Amuwo Odofin Local Government Area of Lagos State, which hosts the Eko Petrochem and Refining Company Limited, a Free Trade Zone.
Speaking in the new FTZ during the grant signing ceremony by the United States Trade and Development Agency (USTDA) and Eko Petrochem and Refining Company Limited at the weekend, Symington called on the citizens of the country to invest all they have and all they want to be remembered for in the country, stressing that it is the Nigerian people that should lead in the investment drive to improve the economy.
Recalling his encounter with the Chairman of Integrated Oil and Gas Limited, promoters of the refinery project, Captain Emmanuel Ihenacho, the US envoy stated that when he asked the Integrated Oil boss his reason for making the investment, his reply was that “unless he made this investment, unless he did this thing to improve the economy of Nigeria - to make sure that foreign currencies are retained and that foreign currencies are earned, to put Nigerians to work and bring world class expertise to Nigeria, he said ‘I would not have right to complain”.
“This captain of a ship has now become a pilot for the country because the greatest question that any country can ever ask is ‘who is leading us and which way are we going and who is in the boat? And the answer in Nigeria is that the people of Nigeria have to lead, the citizens have to say ‘I am not just going to complain, I am going to take all that I am, all that I have, all that I hope to be, all that I hope to be remembered for and I am going to invest them here in Nigeria. And then, if I don’t get what I want, I will complain. But not until then, I should not complain. And then he has done what he has done with the government that believes profoundly in getting a visa quickly.
He is investing at the time with a government that believes profoundly in the power of individual citizen and entrepreneur. He is doing it at a time with government that believes that Nigeria can do what can be done anywhere in the world,” Symington explained.
Also speaking at the event, Ihenacho said he embarked on the refinery project to retain the huge foreign exchange spent in importing petroleum products into the country, adding that if the country is able to do achieve this, the economy will improve significantly.