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Chief Security officer to late Head of State, Gen. Sani Abacha, Major Hamza Al-Mustapha (rtd) has advocated for an inward-looking policy that would enable Nigeria unlock her innate potentials rather than always look beyond the shores of the country for help.
Al-Mustapha is of the view that the current economic situation in Nigeria calls for a change of approach and strategy that would involve Nigerians trusting and investing in their own abilities.
Al-Mustapha was speaking at the public present of a book, last week, in Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital. Nigerians, he said, should develop a sense of pride and patriotism which, according to him, are the two biggest motivating factors that can prop a people to greatness.
He said the experience of all nations which have achieved greatness shows that the first thing their people did was to trust in their own abilities and then fired their sense of pride with a patriotic zeal. He cited the cases of China and Japan as countries which at a point in their history shunned the outside world and confronted their challenges with whatever was available within their borders. “Look at China. At a point in their history, the Chinese, after discovering that communism had failed them, closed their borders, examined their history and realized that they can provide leadership to the world. Today, the story is different”, he told the audience.
Also pointing at the case of Japan, Al-Mustapha noted that there are even bigger lessons to learn from her going by the fact that she had to first contend with devastating natural disasters “but out of pride and patriotism, Japanese locked her boarders and remained inside oven with all the earthquakes. They dusted the ancient books of their four bearers and today without oil, Japan is a member of the G8 countries and is the world leader in electronics”.
Then comparing the two nations with Nigeria, Major Al-Mustapha noted, “what they did not have we have in abundance but ironically, we do not look inwards to see ways of harnessing and maximizing the benefits of what we have”. He was however of the view that it is still not late for Nigerians to have a rethink and redrew the strategy and “scientifically chat a new course” adding, “I can see light of the end of the tunnel”.
He advised Nigerians to embrace one another as one because, according to him, “North or South, we are one”. Mustapha said those who say Nigeria is too big to be united and pursue a common destiny are mistaking, noting that, “we are just about the same size with Texas, one states in the United States of America”. He however admonished what he described as the “exploitative and greedy” class of Nigerians to embrace a new spirit of patriotism that will turn them into their brothers keepers instead of acquiring what they do not need.
The public presentation of the three-volume book, titled “Wisdom Quotes And Statements” written by the Samor Pastor of the House of Liberation Ministries, Port Harcourt, Pastor Prince Long John Inimgba, attracted a number of dignitaries within and outside the state, including former Minister of Labour and Productivity Chief Alabo Graham-Douglas.
