From Fred Itua, Dubai
A former governorship candidate in Rivers State and a chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Tonye Princewill, has appealed to Nigerian leaders to begin to take the issue of development more seriously.
Princewill spoke in Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE) on Friday, during a tour of the Museum of the Future with some journalists, selected from African countries.
The visit to Dubai is part of Afrozons Dubai Sound Off 2022, where African entertainers are expected to perform.
Speaking during the tour, he said: “I came here with media practitioners from all over Africa to show them what we are missing and give them a chance to see first hand, what is possible. My hope is that they will tell others what we need to be doing differently in our own environments so we can get different results.
“A close look at Dubai and you can see that they are in the business of thinking. As you may have heard, there is a famous saying that ‘you are not what you think, but what you think, you are.’
“Dubai is thinking and they are driving us all to think differently so that we can prepare for the implementation of our thoughts. Every future project, begins with an idea, a concept and as we say in engineering, a design.
“If other children are preparing, we should be preparing too. It’s the duty of all of us to be forward thinking, but it’s the duty of leaders to make sure it happens.
“The Museum of the Future is asking you to begin with the end in mind and this is what Africans need to be doing. A future without oil can only be addressed by a people who prepare for it.”