The Chief Economic Adviser to the Abia state Governor and Chief Executive Officer of NEXTZON Business Services Ltd, Sir Mac Chidinma Atasie has disclosed that it is innovation and Action that will lift Nigeria from poverty,adding that Nigerians have the capacity to change the narratives by thinking more on how to be productive and export to the developed nations of the world.
Sir Atasie who made this disclosure while interacting with Media practitioners during a capacity building workshop held in Roots Restaurant Umuahia the Abia state capital, called on Nigerians to embrace innovation and action to enable the Nigeria economy to rise to the top.
He challenged Nigerians to do things differently as a people and put themselves in position where they can produce what the world will buy .
According to him,” innovation means breaking from the usual way of doing things .
” In my opinion, innovation is the single bullet that will push for success and economic development for our families, businesses, individuals, for a state and a country.
” Failure to innovate means you keep doing that same thing you have always done and you know that doing the same thing and expecting different result is called madness” stated .
Continuing, he called on Nigeria government at all levels to train people on how to produce things and export to the developed nations of the world revealing that,” a poor nation can not generate development capital by selling to poor citizens and that a poor nation can only achieve accelerated growth and development if it can finance its vision”
Atasie opined that,” for you to live in today’s world, you need to create new things and we need to be disciplined enough to produce those new things and made them available for people to buy as well as build environment to produce the new ideas that you have imagined ; an environment that will give you the capacity to sale those ideas to the rest of the world”
He encouraged Nigerians to innovate their way into peoples’ pockets, maintaining that,” it is what you produce for people to buy that gives you the money to live well as a person and gives you the money to pay tax to your government to be able to do great things to make the country to operate as a developed nation.
” If you do not produce what people of today and tomorrow need ,they will not pay you the kind of money you need.
” To produce what is needed today and tomorrow is a product of innovation, because you are not producing what has always been there ,you are producing something new .
” You are finding new ways of using the new tools we have in our lives today to solve human problems and to provide services and products that people are ready and comfortable to buy because the product you have is nicer to them,more convenient for them and more cost effective to them than one that was produced yesterday by someone else,that is how life is .
” You produce something because you are great at them , someone else produce another because he is great at them and what you sale gives you the money to buy what they sale,that is the way you can live in today’s world”
He lauded Abia state Governor Dr Okezie Ikpeazu for his blue print and vision for the development of Abia state,noting that” if we can get Aba right as the economic hub of the state ,we can get Abia right”
In his words,
” We must find a way to regain the old leadership status of Aba and Abia state can begin from familiar sectors that can drive the revolution such as leather and garments,Agro-processing , improved infrastructure base ,solid minerals, natural resources and all of us need to think more on how to be productive and sale to the world” he insisted.
Sir Atasie, who outlined many achievements of the NEXTZON Business Services to include, payment-Fintech ,EPPAN,Interswitch ,E-Trazact Agency banking, Identity management, ABSSIN ,NIN ,Land management system, production cluster in Umukalika ,ENASCO , Universal leather ,IGR Enhancement and automation among others, adding that NEXTZON has assisted people in creating new technology and are building new idea technology that is called ‘pay small, small ‘ to help the average Nigerian who earns his money small,small to pay his taxes, pointing out that,” our tax system expect him to pay his tax at once and that it is nearly impossible,hence many continue to evade tax .
” So we have created an Algorithm ,a technology that allows people pay small , small and will attach to their names or whatever that will identify them.
” My view is that the world is getting automated ,every single thing you do now is being translated into the world of technology,so every body who can do automation stands chance to be very valuable to the rest of the world”
