Thread by @channelstv

Economic analysts and experts including Bismark Rewane, Charles Soludo, Anil Gupta among others are currently at the Covenant Place, Iganmu for this year’s edition of The Platform.

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Mr Anil Gupta, one of the world's leading experts on strategy, globalization and emerging markets, is now speaking at The Platform.

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"It will be good for Nigeria to boost agriculture productivity."

- Dr. Anil Gupta

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Mr Bismarck Rewane, nationally renowned Economist, Banker & Financial Analyst, is now speaking at The Platform.

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"There is conference-fatigue, discussion-fatigue, what people want now are results and impact."

- Bismarck Rewane

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"Is it new ideas that Nigeria needs or is it the execution of the new ideas, or is the implementation of old ideas that is the problem?"

- Bismarck Rewane

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"China didn't succeed because of new ideas but the mental discipline to execute. The mental discipline is more important than new ideas. So I do not agree that we have to redesign the Nigerian economy with new ideas."

- Bismarck Rewane

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"We cannot determine the price of oil, the price of commodities. The things that we have control over are our own policies, the social contract between the ruler-ship and follower-ship."

- Bismarck Rewane

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"We have seen consistently that the more integrated our economy is with the rest of the world, the more vulnerable we are. What this economy needs is not new ideas or plans, but the mental discipline to learn from the past."

- Bismarck Rewane

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"We closed our borders 4 weeks ago. The price of rice has increased. What happened? How vulnerable can we be to exogenous shocks? Why are we vulnerable? because we've refused to learn the lessons from the past and from others."

- Bismarck Rewane

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"The truth is what is required now. Mental discipline is more important than fiscal discipline."

- Bismarck Rewane

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"There should be sincerity. Because Nigeria has come this far, failure is no longer an option. Success is imperative. But success cannot be wished, it comes from hard work. We should start doing smart things."

- Bismarck Rewane

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Charles Soludo, an Economics Professor and a former Governor and chairman of the board of directors of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), is next to speak on The Platform.

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Charles Soludo is speaking on the economic restructuring of Nigeria.

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"Are we preparing enough to welcome the 400 million Nigerians in 20 years time or the 800 million Nigerians in 40 years time?"

- Charles Soludo

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"What is fundamentally wrong is we have implemented all kinds of plans, all designed to diversify the economy. But we are still tied to the life-support of the oil sector. Every govt. in Nigeria has implemented its own version."

- Charles Soludo

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"If you want to change a persistent economic structure, change the underlying institution."

- Charles Soludo

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"We need a new national business model."

- Charles Soludo

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"The world is not waiting for Nigeria. While electric cars are fast replacing petrol cars, many of our people are still building petrol stations."

- Charles Soludo

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"The systems, the institutions that we have are for a bungalow. And the new economy that we want to build is a 100-storey building."

- Charles Soludo

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"The future will be driven by people, our youths and technology. The next biggest earner for Nigeria will be its human capital. But we are not going to export illiterates."

- Charles Soludo

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"Peasant agriculture has little future."

- Charles Soludo

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"Abuja cannot pay its bills. We have to get to serious work. Abuja, as it is today, is choking."

- Charles Soludo

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"Institutions drive economic transformations. Sadly, our institutions are either obsolete or inappropriate. The current institutions need fundamental overhaul."

- Charles Soludo

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"If the problem is the word 'restructuring' let's call it something else."

- Charles Soludo

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"Abuja has sought to keep everybody in check, but has succeeded in holding everybody down."

- Charles Soludo

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"Let Zamfara keep their gold and pay taxes to the government. Let Kaduna and Kogi keep their solid minerals. Most states have their own resources. Concentrating power in Abuja won't help us develop our resources."

- Charles Soludo

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"Nigeria needs to invest in the Judiciary. Our Judiciary should be part of our national brand. Let's do what it takes to become a nation of laws. Can we at least target to have the best judiciary in Africa?"

- Charles Soludo

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"A wise man gets the umbrella ready before the rain starts."

- Charles Soludo

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"Politics is too serious to be left to those who call themselves 'politicians'. It is our collective destiny. Unfortunately our politics is broken."

- Charles Soludo

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"In my view, sooner or later, something will give. And a new kind of politics will emerge to secure the future. Beyond sloganeering we have serious work to do."

- Charles Soludo

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"Those who have something to offer, especially our youths, must stand up to be counted."

- Charles Soludo

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"We must not let the treasury looters be the ones to define us. We are still the largest economy in Africa. We are the most educated immigrants in the US. The richest black man and woman are Nigerians."

- Charles Soludo

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Former Governor of Anambra State, Peter Obi, is next in line to speak.

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"Every minute, six Nigerians fall into poverty."

- Peter Obi

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"Nigeria is one of those countries where the per capital income has been falling. In security, we are now the tenth most insecure place to live in the world. Our underemployment and unemployment is one of the worst in the world."

- Peter Obi

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"We are the most stressful country."

- Peter Obi

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"We are the most unequal country in the world. The richest one percent control 85 percent of the wealth."

- Peter Obi

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"If you want more revenue, reboot your economy." - Peter Obi

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"The more you lift people out of poverty, the more revenue you get." - Peter Obi

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The Executive Governor of Lagos State, Babajide Sanwo-Olu is now fielding questions at The Platform.

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"We have not spent $12 billion on rail projects in Lagos. We have spent just about 5 percent of that."

- Babajide Sanwo-Olu

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"To solve the traffic issue in Lagos, we are trying to harmonise bike riders so we can know who they are and manage them."

- Babajide Sanwo-Olu

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"The only major recruitment that I have given approval for in the last 100 days is for teachers."

- Babajide Sanwo-Olu

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"We need to get about 3,000 to 4,000 teachers before the end of the year. But we are also focusing on how to improve the learning outcomes in schools."

- Babajide Sanwo-Olu

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"We do not have enough bio-medical technicians, not doctors, who can handle equipment. For us as a government, we have seen it as a challenge." - Babajide Sanwo-Olu

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We have approved a metropolitan fibre initiative, where we are deploying fibre to everywhere in Lagos that is required. - Babajide Sanwo-Olu

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"We will be taking the fibre to our schools, hospitals and public buildings. It is a tech-enabler for us." - Babajide Sanwo-Olu

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"Our state government budget hovers around $2 billion. And we have a local debt ratio of about 20 to 25 percent." - Babajide Sanwo-Olu

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"We can do a lot more. A lot of things are happening in the backroom. We don't need to make a lot of noise about it. What Lagosians want is results." - Babajide Sanwo-Olu

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"You will never know the true finances of a state until you become its Chief Executive." - Babajide Sanwo-Olu

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It's a marathon, it is not a sprint. I can assure you that Lagos will not only be greater, Lagos will see a level of development that it has never seen before." - Babajide Sanwo-Olu

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