NDE boss decries fruitless oversea trips by officials

Mohammed was speaking when a delegation of Netherland African Business Council (NABC) led by its President Mr. Cliff Ogbede paid him a visit, inviting the NDE to a business forum in The Hague, Netherland.Mr. Ogbede had informed Mohammed and top NDE management staff that the forum will help Nigerian small businesses and their Dutch counterparts […]

Mohammed was speaking when a delegation of Netherland African Business Council (NABC) led by its President Mr. Cliff Ogbede paid him a visit, inviting the NDE to a business forum in The Hague, Netherland.
Mr. Ogbede had informed Mohammed and top NDE management staff that the forum will help Nigerian small businesses and their Dutch counterparts access a 700 million euro fund provided by Netherland for Africa.
But Mohammed stated that most events outside the country do not help the country in any way, stressing that any forum that is targeted at growing Nigeria’s economy should be held in Nigeria for most effective results.      
“We have interacted and made some observations and I said we have been to a lot of countries, I am asking whether it is not time for us to have a paradigm shift; that is for such a forum to take place in Nigeria.
“What I did was to put it in a very simple way as a local man, and I told them that in my place it is people who go to the market and not the market that comes to the people. So I am saying the market is here and no one should tell me there is no security in Nigeria, over 160 million Nigerians are still here and are living, yes we have  challenges, every country has it, they should not say they can’t come to Nigeria, I don’t accept that
“If I am going to the forum I can at most go with two directors but however if it is taking place here, I can bring the entire state coordinators of the NDE and other interested stakeholders can also come and we will be seen in our strength and also our weakness and correct decisions will be made…but going out for a day or two, we might not have the capacity to take everyone along.
“So with our suggestion we hope to see some changes because there are many of such associations but I am wondering all the places we have been, what is the tangible result we brought or is it just to go and deliver papers?” he asked.