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Nigeria’s Future Place in the World | A Noble Conversation with David Raymond Edet
Can the future of Africa be shaped by the wisdom of its leaders and the activism of its youth? Join us for an engaging conversation with David Raymond Edet, the dynamic founder and CEO of UniPro Africa. David shares his extensive experience from the oil and gas sector and his passionate insights on African geopolitics. Together, we explore his vision for building a lasting legacy and the crucial role social media plays in empowering young Africans to make an impact in politics.
Next, we shift our focus to Nigeria, a country poised for dramatic demographic change, with its population set to double by 2050. What does this mean for a nation already facing significant challenges? Through compelling real-life stories, we highlight the resilience and creativity of Nigerians who are taking bold steps to uplift their communities. We examine the implications of this population growth, emphasizing the urgent need for job creation, education, healthcare, and food security, while stressing the shared responsibility of both the government and citizens in driving development.
Finally, we delve into Nigeria's rich yet often overlooked history. David advocates for reintroducing history into educational curricula to inspire future generations. We also explore the untapped economic potential of states like Akwa Ibom, focusing on sectors such as oil and gas, agriculture, and tourism. The conversation concludes with a call for younger generations to engage in politics and highlights the vital role of the diaspora in Nigeria's progress. Don’t miss this insightful discussion that will deepen your understanding of Nigeria’s potential and the vital contributions of its people.
Today we have the David Raymond Edet joining us for Noble Conversations. Now, david Raymond is the founder and CEO of UniPro Africa, and this man has deep when I say deep, I mean deep experience in the oil and gas sector in Nigeria and Africa, but also even deeper interest in how all those things affect Nigeria and Africa in terms of their place in the world. So he's very, very, very, very passionate about African geopolitics and the role that Nigeria will play in that. Um in African geopolitics, but also in in in global affairs. Nigeria's like vast resources, all the way from gold to crude oil, different mineral resources I mean different rare earth minerals as well and this man is also a rotary paul harris fellow, and this award is given to people who have made contributions in one way or the other, I believe, financially, different ways um to to international humanitarian, um and world peace efforts. I mean, we're in turbulent times, different wars breaking out on different fronts, and so, um, whatever role we can play to encourage more diplomatic solutions and to encourage more peaceful options is what we should do, and this man is phenomenal. I'm really looking forward to this conversation and I'm sure you guys are looking forward to it too. So join us.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I'm drinking my tea. So if you have tea in your hand, join us. If you have coffee, join us. If you have something else, what? Join us. We're ready for this conversation, let's go. So when I, when I think of myself, right, right, I think of okay, there's how other people view me and there's how I view myself. So, for you, how do you who is David Raymond Edet from your perspective, because you know other people know all this stuff that you do but when you think about yourself, how do you view yourself?
Speaker 3:I think the way I see myself is someone who, definitely someone who is going to change the world Right. Yeah, I believe I am very driven. That's just my own personal perspective. I wake up in the morning and I certainly believe that today I'm definitely going to add value to someone somehow. And if you look at the way value works, it compounds. So you start doing it in little bits, but by the time you spread it over 5, 10, ten years, twenty years, you realize when they say, oh, this person is a valuable person. It's not because of what you did yesterday or the day before that. It's like over time you're proving yourself to be able to deliver on XYZ, right. So I look at myself and it's like, put me in any room and give me a few months probably, probably, probably, one of the most valuable people in that room so that desire and that drive to add value, like, where does it come from for you?
Speaker 1:Because different people have different things that motivate them or help them wake up in the morning right To attack the day. So for you, where does that drive come from?
Speaker 3:In this movie, batman, the Dark Knight Rises, where Bruce Wayne was talking to someone in prison. He had gotten into the prison Someone said something about I think the person who was having the conversation was saying something about fearing death and then Bruce Wayne says I don don't fear death, I fear dying in here. That's, as for me, largely explains where I see things. Where I do the work, the drive to do certain things do as much as I comes from the fear of dying tomorrow without achieving something I want to achieve 20 years after I'm dead. I still want at least 50 years. I'd be happy if it's 100 or 200 years. Maybe 100, yeah.
Speaker 1:Don't make it 1,000. Make it 1,000. Right.
Speaker 3:People should be able to look back a hundred or two hundred, maybe a hundred, yeah, maybe don't make it a thousand, make it a thousand, right? Um, people should be able to look back and say, oh yes, we remanded this or that. And you can see it with the way I live, because I, I, I my very short life. I go back to Topi, or even my primary school, monet, and there are still things that they'll be. Ah yeah, david Raymond did that. There's still that thing which is again drives me. So you create enough value with enough people. When you leave, when you're done, people should still be able to point out a particular thing you did that was impactful.
Speaker 1:So it is this desire to not die without accomplishing some of the things that you want to accomplish because you want to leave a legacy, correct, correct, okay, things that you want to accomplish because you want to leave a legacy.
Speaker 1:All right, okay, okay. And so, in terms of leaving a legacy, right, um, one of the areas that you're really passionate about, um, from the few conversations we've had over like text, is african geopolitics and um, I'm curious from your perspective, what is the current state of african geopolitics? And um, I'm curious from your perspective, what is the current state of african geopolitics?
Speaker 3:oh boy, that's um.
Speaker 3:A question is a lot to unpack, man, and then you have time at the risk at the risk of sounding like a uh, you know, like an analyst, and the thing with politics is you can't really analyze things, but if we look at what's currently happening in the African scene generally, one of the things that I can immediately point out is that there's a lot of if I should say wisdom now being deployed. Many African leaders are wiser. Many African leaders negotiate things differently now than they did before. If you look at a lot of the revolution acts that have been carried out in, if you look at a lot of the revolution acts that have been carried out happening in recent years, you'd see a change in the way leaders discuss with their Western counterparts, whether it's the Europeans or the Americans, and again, thank God for social media, right, even young people are now more politically enlightened and they are more connected. So there's a protest currently going on in Kenya and it constantly pops up on my Twitter feed, and I also have a lot of people from Nigeria who lend their voices to their comrades in Kenya. I think it was either earlier this year or last year. There was a protest in Ghana sometime earlier this year. There was a failed coup in the Republic of Congo, right, and we have access to all of this information.
Speaker 3:So, whether in Northern Africa, sub-saharan Africa, you know, anywhere across the continent, you see there's a lot more connectivity and that's shaping how people view politics. So we're seeing that the more different we are, the more unlike we actually are. So the same issues that the Pongolese are facing, the Nigerians are facing it, the Arab Africans are facing something similar and you know, there's there's just this paradigm shift in the way people think, in the way people view the politics of the day, in the way leaders will act, because then you know that move travels faster. There's this, there's a I. I think well, it's slow, but we are getting there. There's a little bit of shame coming there. There's a little bit of shame coming back. Right, there's a little bit of we don't want to do this. If this goes to the social media, then you know the recent one that has been trending is I'm a bad girl. I don't know if you've seen that one.
Speaker 3:No, I haven't A female parliamentarian, I think, in Kenya, a lady, I think she leads the female carcass there um and um she. She spoke recently and you know she was basically saying, uh, the same issue. She should be a good example to the younger, you know, women who are coming into the parliamentary system and she goes on and says there's no point being good. Being good will not get you anywhere. Look at me here saving my thing for the sixth term. I'm a bad girl and I get things done yeah.
Speaker 3:And she's all the way in, I think, either Kenya or Southern Africa. But she's all the way in another region in Africa and we're in the West. You know it's shaping the mindset of younger people and you are realizing that, yes, for men, for example, it's nice to be a gentleman, but when you're getting into that political system, you have to be able to be a bad boy or a bad girl. Again, this isn't to talk about a country's electoral system. That's up to the sovereign nation. Yeah.
Speaker 3:But you have to do the work which you were chosen to do, which is to look after your people, Security, economic stability and all the other things that you're supposed to do.
Speaker 1:Do you think they will learn from it?
Speaker 3:Well, we can only hope. Again, what we think is, in this context, on whether we think they will learn or not, it's inconsequential, because they'll do what they want to do either way. So we can only hope that they learn from it. If you don't learn from it, well, history repeats itself yeah don't come crying to us yeah the president did that, made a video again.
Speaker 1:Well, we're sorry, we can't do much, so yeah so okay, um, yeah, I mean, I certainly hope that that they, they learn from it because, um, like you said, like who's a never a good thing.
Speaker 1:At the same time, it's also like okay, if you continue to be greedy and you're not doing what you need to do for the people, like people will naturally not be happy about it, and those are the results of things like that. So, nigeria, let's shift from Africa to Nigeria. So, in terms of democracy, right, how do what role do you see nigeria playing in, first of all, upholding because we just celebrated 25 years of democracy, right, um, and what role do you see nigeria playing in upholding that democracy within our country first, and then next in, um, neighboring countries? Um, I mean, I'm thinking of the whole when, uh, niger, when the coup happened in niger, um, and echo us, you know, nigeria talked about invading, but then that didn't happen. Like, basically, do you see nigeria c being able to lead if people feel like we made promise to do something but then we didn't follow through on it? Like, do you see Nigeria still being able to lead, first of all in upholding its democracy and then in leading other nations in democracy as well, surrounding nations?
Speaker 3:I think Nigeria, for a very long time, has always played the big brother role. We have celebrated, like you've said, 25 years of democracy and if we continue on that trajectory, look, we're one of the biggest economies in Africa. It keeps fluctuating, I don't know if we're at two or three right now, but I know, I think, between Nigeria, egypt and South Africa, and these three countries so not just Nigeria, in this sense, will continue to play the role where other people look up to us. So certainly we have to be sure that we protect our democratic processes. We have to be, we have to work very hard to ensure that the public perception of Nigerian democracy is not, you know, destroyed, if I should put it that way yeah the world looks up to us every.
Speaker 3:Every time we have an election, you have so many international observers coming in. So I think the short answer to that question is yes. I think Nigeria's role is very, very important. It cannot be understated, and for our own sakes and when I say for our own sakes I mean we need to continue to, because, beyond what we are protecting, and that's our democracy and the public image we also have- to work very hard to maintain our position as one of the strongest nations in this continent.
Speaker 3:To do that, you have to continue to be respected, and ensuring that our democratic processes are intact is one of the ways to continue to earn that respect from not just our neighbors but the entire international community.
Speaker 1:So, that's my thoughts on that, okay. Okay, and you talked about the entire international community. International community, um, when you look at nigeria's role on the like global stage and its future place in the world, um, I think about, first of all, our population and you know, like, our productivity, because right now we have a population about 200 million people and it's expected to double by 2050, you know, surpassing the us and I think we're also to experience within the next few decades. How do you see this impacting the productivity of the country and where do you see Nigeria in 2050?
Speaker 3:It could definitely be a good or a bad thing. Why, for China, it's a good thing you have a strong labor force in which you can harness. That gives you a very, very strong edge in the world. Right, it could be a bad thing because Nigeria is the poverty capital of the world. You can't have a nation that has such a high percentage of people living below the poverty line and expect peace. Let's not go too far. The team is already playing out. You understand it's already playing out.
Speaker 3:An idle man is a devil's option, and that will always be true for the context of nation building. And so, unless we can change things around, create jobs, create jobs, ensure education. So we need job creation, we need education, we need good health care, we need food security. If you have these things, you know, as a nation, then you can be assured that things like security will improve, your GDP would improve, you know, the purchasing power of people will get better, your currency is strengthened and, of course, in the long run, then it's a good thing, it's something to celebrate. Yes, where? So so and so million people, whether we are saying 200 million, whether I say 180 million people, like over 200 million people, and that's a good thing. But having the numbers is not a good thing when more than half of the people are trying to cure themselves.
Speaker 1:So, yeah, that's so okay, we have. I mean, yes, leadership is responsible for ensuring that the currency is strengthened, people have jobs, there is security and I know people are probably thinking, okay, well, leadership is failing us. So how can people find ways to still create those opportunities and contribute, irrespective of how you know, leadership is showing up, because obviously leadership is crucial and essential and if the leadership is not actually working for the people, then it's difficult to move the country in any one direction positively. But how can? How can people still change that narrative. If somebody's asking what role can I play in this, let's say, a 15, 20-year-old person is asking what role can I play, how can they show up?
Speaker 3:No, but that's exactly where this thing called the Nigerian spirit comes into a political perspective. We're already doing that as Nigerians. Nigerians, we don't complain too much. As a matter of fact, we adapt very well. One, we adapt very well within our nation and two, we stand out when we go to other places. So look at people, uh, globally, that are doing very well you'll always meet a Nigerian in one of those places.
Speaker 3:Right, I? I like to use this uh, football as an example right now for this thing, because I have a very good friend, um imam more, who says this thing on twitter, where he says the bulk of a majority of the goals in football are scored by people of nigerian descent. And it's very funny, it's interesting. So, on scores, it was like go and check it that person. Most of the goals, you see. But yeah, right, you see nigeria doing very well. You hear a niger, nigerian surgeon here, even holding political offices in other places. You see entrepreneurs.
Speaker 3:Our current minister, minister Bosun Tijani, was doing exactly that, doing his own thing in CC Hub and in the tech space, even before he entered government. You see people. You go to communities that don't have roads. They create the road for themselves. That's why you have so many organizations here and there, so we found a way to actually take care of ourselves, even when we have issues with the government. And so I would say to a 15-year-old that look around you, there is a very high chance that you would see Nigerians doing things to better their society. Now, on the flip side of that, there are the bad eggs, so you can't always blame government for not doing things. I'm in Abuja and most times I'll drive and I'll see people literally stop their cars on the road to do something and I wonder how? How are you thinking? That's such.
Speaker 3:You know, you can't just think about yourself yeah or you see people later and I say okay, then you blame the government. Even in this same Abuja, you give contractors, government contractors. You give them a contract, you pay them and they don't execute. Uh-uh, ogaya, in the private sector, they give you the job and you've not executed it. And then citizens will come out and say the government embezzled this fund. Well, no, the contractor did not do those funds, did not carry out those projects. I'll bring you back, I'll take you people back home to where I'm from a local government In my local government. Well, first of all, if you're from a local government, you go into politics. You have to ensure you deliver, because we are very crazy. We're in Zambia, a bad boy and a bad girl, all of us. They are bad boys and bad girls.
Speaker 3:You cannot get into office and not deliver by the next election cycle, you are leaving. So the people are very much involved, both from the government perspective and from the private sector perspective. We ensure that if there's a bad road, everybody's writing to whoever is responsible for that, and the representatives in government will respond to us that, please, xyyz has been awarded this road. We know where to check the award contract. We would find that person and say, okay, why have you not done this road? So that's how we do it where I'm from. That's how we have drive them survive. I wish the people come and visit us any day.
Speaker 1:It's a small local government, but it's a thriving local government so it sounds like a culture of accountability is needed exactly, exactly okay, okay, and that's needed both on the side of the government and on the side of the citizen, the everyday citizen, exactly, yeah, no, I, I agree, I think, I. I like what you said, the example you gave about bosun tijani um with cc hub, because even now that he's, you know, in government, it seems like he's still trying to replicate some of the things he did with cc hub in terms of creating opportunities for, I think, three million um n, 3 million Nigerians to develop skills across, whether it's marketing or developing. And so, like you said, nigerians are very industrious. We'll find a way even when there's no way. So, like I said, I'm reading this book, nigeria's Soldiers of Fortune, and one of the things that the author talks about is that um.
Speaker 1:So I'm, like I said I was reading, I'm reading this book, nigeria's soldiers of fortune, and one of the things that the author talks about is that, despite nigeria having a complex history, right, and diversity. Well, first of all, nigeria's complex history and diversity can make it challenging to unify the country around the narrative, but, despite these challenges, like Nigeria is still the perfect ground to test, like global social questions. Like you know, can multi-ethnic and multi-religious countries exist and succeed? That's one and two. Can a formally colonized country become a global superpower? Now, my answer to those things would be yes, because I mean, look at the us. It was a former formally colonized country, but then look at its position in the world now. But from your perspective, how would you answer those two questions as it relates to nigeria? And? Um, yeah, basically, how would you answer those two questions as it relates to Nigeria?
Speaker 3:I think the real answer is it depends on the people. South Africa and Egypt have a pretty strong global presence have a pretty strong global presence. Nigeria's diversity is a blessing on the cross Right, and one of the things that I personally believe affect us is our lack of national I don't want to use pride. Identity, maybe okay, growing up it used to be something in the lines of unity in diversity. Maybe, okay, growing up it used to be something in the lines of unity in diversity, but as I've grown it doesn't seem to exist. Why? Why is that?
Speaker 3:Well, I don't know if it's a thing of Now. It's two ways. It's either now that we have grown we are exposed to the reality, or things have gotten worse. Okay, but whatever it is, there is so much disunity in the country. Even if you go online, even within our generation, if you go on on x, you would see people talking about the urban man or the Igbo man and you say, how did we, as young people, have this much tribalism in our hearts? Look at when GRV ran for governor in Lagos, all the sentiments of his you know people, heritage, or where he was from, or when he's great-great-grandfather's mother or his mother's people everything came up. And he was also young, would I put in an IT, right?
Speaker 3:You have this kind of thing, it's kind of argument, and you ask what's the young people that are pushing their narrative? Right? You have this kind of thing, this kind of argument, and you ask yourself well, if we are so ununited or so busy fighting ourselves, how do we even unite to fight or to take ourselves to the global stage and to get a seat at the table? Right, so that's a huge challenge. So I think, again, it's a one answer to the two questions, right, it's like if we can overcome our internal challenges, then we definitely can take ourselves much, much forward in terms of becoming a global power, but we have a long way to go. In that regard. I would say this too that again, it's not all bad, bad bad for us. When Ebola virus happened, we united as a country. When COVID happened, we united as a country. So these two terrible outbreaks showed me that well, it's not as if we hate ourselves like that. I don't know, it's just very complex. It's like we unite against external threats but we can't seem to unite to pose it.
Speaker 3:So we unite when there is external threats, but we can't seem to unite to pose it. So we unite when there is an external threat, but we can't seem to unite to prepare for the external threat. So it's like if there was no outbreak, if there was no pandemic, and we say, let us unite as a country to make face masks free, somebody will steal the money for that face mask or somebody will inflate pride somewhere, somebody will do something, something, something, something will happen and then that initiative to make face masks free will just not work. But if there is a pandemic, then everybody comes around, everybody loves it and of course let's not get into the palliative thing during the pandemic where people stole money, but to a large extent we would rally around ourselves to fight the external force. So it's a big issue for me, because it's a thing we don't trust ourselves at all. Do you understand?
Speaker 1:So we unite when there's an external threat threat, but then when there's nothing, we're like ah okay, there's nothing, that we're fighting together so let's fight ourselves yeah that's the problem.
Speaker 3:That's the big issue. I strongly believe that if, for example, some other african country should try to go to war with Nigeria, you're going to find it very difficult because the way we unite against that external threat. But there's no external threat let's pick up sticks against ourselves. I'm thinking about the role that education would play in in some of these things, in every aspect of it.
Speaker 1:Every aspect of it, yeah yeah, and the reason is I one for one, I don't think we have, not even I don't think we don't have a lot of documented or, like, let's just say, books. We don't have a lot of books or writings from former nigerian heads state, which is why I appreciate the one that Obasanjo did my watch and the reason I say that is, when you don't have an understanding of history and an understanding of the different leaders that have led the country, it's possible to repeat mistakes. And me, I didn't learn history when I went to school in Nigeria because they said you're either in science or art. Right, and because of that, like now, I'm doing the work to educate myself on Nigeria's history, work to educate myself on Nigeria's history.
Speaker 1:And what road do you see people learning and understanding the country that they're currently living from the perspective of the past play in how they approach the future? Well, play in how they exist in the present, now, and then how they approach the future, because I also think that would play. I think that would also tackle that issue of identity that you mentioned, because when we have this collective understanding of this is who we are as a collective understanding of this is who we were, we, we are as a people now and this is where we came from. It's easier to know. Okay, this is where we are going, but what? What role do you see education playing in all of that?
Speaker 3:you've already answered the question. The short answer to that question is the only way to? Well, not the only way, but in reality it's the only way. You can't't know where you are going if you don't know where you are coming from. You have to always know your path. History as a subject is not in Nigeria's curriculum Now. I think it should be From primary school all the way to your university, at different levels. You should be taught history Back then it. You should be taught history Back then. It used to be social studies. Yeah.
Speaker 3:And I think social studies used to have a bit of history here and there, but history, history itself, as it should be. For some reason it isn't. Now, on the heads of states, I'll tell you that there is enough documentation. They have documented it, not just heads of states. Leaders in different fields have documented either them or somebody else who has written their autobiographies or their biographies.
Speaker 3:There is so much literature on the leaders in this country. Take it to Akwabung, for example. All the seven governors from the time of Obon Biktota to Senetorapabu, to Mr Odom Emmanuel and the present governor. There is documentation on their life, their time in government and, for those who have left government, their time post government. Recently, mr Nate Husson, the Special Advisor to the Korean Governor, pastor Moinu, the media, has written an autobiography on the governor's life. That book is out there. I'm of the opinion that that book should be taught in school, maybe to ss3 students, maybe 200 level students. But that book should be dissected as a lecture. Maybe there should be a lecture series on it for school. But you have this material out there but people do not know.
Speaker 1:I didn't even know about it.
Speaker 3:You see, here in Abuja you have the Yaradwa Center, which was built as a collaborative effort between His Excellency Atikavuaka, I think, obasanjo and the late Umar Yadwa, that's the President Yadwa at the time. So the Yadwa Center is to the elder brother of President Yadwa. Musa Yadwa, who at the time I think at one point was even deputy head of state, was a very was a leading political figure in Nigeria and there's the Yadwa Center here in Abuja in central area. When you go to the center it has a whole museum. It has everything on his life, from birth to when he died, time at war. He has a book, but I'm not sure if that book is somewhere around here. Right, well, he does have a book and well, people again don't know about these resources.
Speaker 3:There is a book here. It's called Civil War Child. It's written by Nestor Do. It's on the history of the Nigerian Civil War from the perspective of an extended child at the time. There's another book here. It says Leadership Secrets of Goslar Fabio. It's an autobiography of Senator Gossela Fabio, his time when he was in government. I can give, let me write some of these things down.
Speaker 1:You said Civil War, Child right.
Speaker 3:Yes, civil War, child Leadership. Secrets of Gossela Fabio. There is another book here that says who are the Ibibio Right? Yeah.
Speaker 3:So you have all of these resources, different resources on the Nigerian history, Very well documented. There is one here and you can see this one. It says Nigerian yearbook. This says Prince of Time, Prince of the Times. It's written by His Excellency Dr Omar Farooq Ibrahim. He's the current Secretary General of the African Petroleum Producers Organization. This Prince of the Time is written in a biography of Ado Bayero. It's a brief history on the emerald authority in Kano States.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that would be especially relevant now.
Speaker 3:Good, you read this kind of thing and it can give you better understanding as to what is happening now and you can judge better as opposed to what is what you hear from social media. And so you have these resources out there. They are there, they are present, and some people just don't know they exist. And some people just don't know they exist. The government isn't doing enough work to publicize it. Right, you have to have this type of resources, you have to push it in schools. You have to have people read it. People understand where they're coming from.
Speaker 1:No, I think that's yeah, there's definitely a lot out there that people are not even aware um and, like you said, curriculums including it in curriculums, that is, from primary school, secondary school, university level, um will be helpful. I mean, you mentioned some books that are focused on aqua boom and you know aqua boom is one of the four states that contributes to 80 of the oil revenues, um in the country, which contributes to 70 of nigeria's foreign exchange revenues revenues. So, being from aqua boom, um, like what road? You see the state's aqua boom? You mentioned a synodim. Like aqua boom, is synodim playing in nigeria's future in the world or future place in?
Speaker 3:the world. I think I'm not just saying this as somebody who is an unofficial ambassador for the state, but, to be very, very honest, I think I strongly believe that is one of those states that will position Nigeria and West Africa on the global stage if harnessed properly. There's three key things, three key things to note. One, of course, the oil and gas Right. Besides oil, we have huge, huge deposits of gas which we haven't even started tapping yet. The second thing is the agriculture, our palm oil sector, and this goes down to the northern side of our cryo boom. If you come to a synodim, we are rich in palm oil. It's a business that can generate so much revenue, and I dare say more revenue than oil, if tapped properly. And if you recall, initially the traders that came to Nigeria were trading palm oil before crude oil. Now we've sort of abandoned it because, yes, crude oil is crude oil I think there's even a company called uh relief.
Speaker 1:I don't know if you've heard of them uh like relief. They recently I don't know if it's recently um, but they I think they're headquartered in uyo or somewhere in aquaibon, but they're headquartered. They're basically processing um, uh palm oil. There's some technology that they brought. I don't know exactly, I can send it to you after.
Speaker 3:But I'd love to get this. This is what we're talking about. So you see things like that and then you realize that we're not even tapping into that aspect. There's the third aspect that is still there and that's tourism.
Speaker 3:We are on the shores of Nigeria, just overlooking the Atlantic Ocean. Come on, what more do I have to see? Right, and if you, if you mix that with our history? Not many people know that the amalgamation house is in our private room. So the where um nigeria, the northern and southern protectorate of Nigeria was amalgamated, it's in Akwa Ibom, in Sinkona Basi. Lord Lugard's house is there, his office is there, mary Slacers' office, and one of our lodges is also in Akwa Ibom, the Bridge of no Return, where, if you take it back to the era of slave trade, it connects a cry boom to to um, what's it called the shoreline, aquarium, river state axis, and also calabar, that entire shoreline to the entire. So the western coast in africa, this entire area. Right, if you look at the map of africa, if you look at the map of Africa, it has rich history, rich history and we can harness that and tap it, change it into a tourist and also revenue generating. You know what's it called Activity, let's put it that way. We're yet to tap into that.
Speaker 1:Why? Why are we yet to tap into it if we know these things?
Speaker 3:The day we are opportune to have the executive governor sit on this interview. I would like that question.
Speaker 1:No worries coming.
Speaker 3:I would really like that question to be asked, because I too am looking for the answer, and that's why I'm advocating for us younger people to get into politics, because I believe that the answer lies in on that table. You know, they say it's easier to criticize from outside. So maybe when we enter the government, then we can now know okay, this is why you, or this is why you know, maybe, just maybe, for now, all we can do is say this is what we think, that's done, and I advocate for it. Aqua bomb right now has a lot of good pier. It's a very clean state, it's calm, it's relaxing, it has good air, it has good food, it has good everything thank you all of you as captain.
Speaker 3:Nigeria's captain and super eagles captain, truste kong recently held a charity football match there and a lot of influencers from across the country where then I spoke with a few people who came in from lagos. Maybe some of them about two or three of them were their first time in Akwa Ero and they were blown away. They're like what? This is Nigeria's best skeptic. How could we not know that a place like this exists? We have one of the best, if not the best, road network system in the country. You have a thriving middle class sector. You have it's a non-partisan state. Nobody. Every middle class sector. It's a non-partisan state. Nobody's asked whether they are APC or PDP. Come on, the Senate president is the president from APC. The governor is a PDP governor. Yet they love themselves. They work to ensure that the state keeps going and keeps great.
Speaker 3:I think if we keep pushing at that trajectory and we have more people involved. We need to have more involvement, we need diaspora, we need to drive investment in the states. We need businesses to come in and say, okay, look, we want to come to a Cienudim to develop the agricultural sector. We have X Y Z amount. Cultural sector, we have xyz amount of millions of dollars, and this is what we want to invest in. We're ready. We say welcome, that's what we want.
Speaker 1:So I'm happy you mentioned diaspora, um. So as someone who is in the diaspora, I'm always curious, like what ways can the nigerian diaspora support in nation building right, and so switching gears a little bit to that, because I mean tourism, oil and gas, as well as agriculture with exploration of more palm oil revenues like those are amazing areas that could transform aqua boom and help aqua boom contribute to nigeria's place in the world. So, as someone in the diaspora, for people in the diaspora who want to contribute to that, those efforts we talked about investment and things like that but what other ways can we let's say someone like me contribute to the work that's happening in Nigeria?
Speaker 3:Two ways. Straight comes into mind. I've thought about this many times over and over in the past. Number one we've just spoken about history. History and current affairs need to go out of their way. The diaspora needs to go out of their way to understand the history and current affairs of the country, so that, because they're not on ground, so that your narrative and your understanding is not shaped by what is seen online, because there's a lot of fake news flying around. If people understand their history, then it's very difficult for you to be deceived. Example again His Excellency Peter Albi ran for president.
Speaker 3:Before you choose to support a candidate, you should have your reasons why. Now, your reason for supporting a Peter Albi or a Tinubu or an Atiku should not be based on what you have read from another person. It should be based on your understanding of the candidate. To understand the candidate, you have to know what did this person do when he was governor of Anambra state, governor of Gregor state? What did he achieve? He was vice president, you know. So number one is to understand that history. Number two is good PR, because public perception is everything. If I go on your social media, I won't be able to see you saying very good things. I mean you can criticize. I'm not saying, don't criticize. However they say in our place now'm not saying don't criticize However they say.
Speaker 3:In our place now we say don't throw away the baby with the bath water. So while they are criticizing, maintain that same energy when good things are happening. Right, that's it. These are the two other ways. Besides, come back to the investment and everything else. Do the research that needs to be done and please give us good PR. You are the one that is directly people who have never been to Africa before.
Speaker 3:So in addition to People who are talking to that don't know how many don't even know any country in Africa. I think Africa is their country. It's now your role, it's your civic responsibility to educate those people and say well, this is why Akwa Abubu is a bloody good place to visit. Yeah, you should definitely visit there for holidays. It's good to relax. Go there, spend your money there, bring it back home.
Speaker 1:Yeah, no, we want that, we want that. So, yes, coming back and then investments, and then understanding what's going well, history, and then current affairs, and then good PR, All those things those are ways that people in diaspora can play a role. My brother, I've really enjoyed I think you're very well read and so I really enjoy having conversations with people who have really done the work to read, learn, understand and I see you keeping up with what's going on in order to better play a role in shaping the country. Where can our audience learn more about you and some of the work you're doing? Where can they find you?
Speaker 3:I think one of the places where I'm most active and most myself and honest is on Instagram. If you follow my Instagram at vdavidedit, where I'm most active and most myself and honest is on Instagram. If you follow my Instagram at vdavidedit, that's T-H-E, david Edit, and I'm also very responsive there. If you check my Twitter, it's at davidedit underscore that's my ex account, and on LinkedIn, david Raymond Edit. I'm active on all these platforms, but you'd see me more frequently on the Instagram. That's where we talk about a lot of the activities we're doing.
Speaker 1:Okay, okay, thank you, thank you. I really appreciate that. Thank you very much. It was a pleasure.
Speaker 3:Yeah, I mean, I definitely enjoyed this conversation. Thank you, thank you, thank you Honestly. Thank you for hosting me, thank you for having me. Like I say, I think it's also very important for us young people to have the platform and also create the platform for ourselves, where we can shape our narrative, we can tell our own stories, stories of where we're from, stories of our people. Again, thank God for social media. Right, we can have more people watch these stories, more people than we would even expect, and people actually understand. Okay, maybe what I heard here isn't from this other person exactly correct. This other person is giving the counter information. Let me go do my research. Yeah, right, so I thank you very much for hosting me. I thank you for coming up with this initiative. I think it's an amazing initiative.
Speaker 3:Please keep it up I appreciate it yeah, you know looking forward and we're definitely praying for it to grow and become bigger and bigger and bigger. One day, you host the president and you ask the president these questions too. Yes sir, yes sir yes, sir, definitely, definitely.
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