Shettima: Nigeria Not In Davos To Beg But To Deal with West on Mutually Beneficial Terms

Nigeria’s Vice President Kassim Shettima in an exclusive interview with ARISE News in Davos, Switzerland, asserted the country’s readiness to embark on a digital revolution, stating that Nigeria and the African continent in general are at the World Economic Forum 2024 to deal with the West on an equal footing because the continent is “the richest in the world.”  

He said, “We are not a poor nation by any standard, we’re not a poor continent. We do not come to the west begging; we want to deal with them on mutually beneficial terms because ours is the richest continent in the world. 

“We are poised to take advantage of the digital revolution. We are in a unique position, digitally equipped. We can really take advantage of the digital revolution and occupy our rightful place in the committee of nations.”

Shettima further address Nogeria’s foreign exchange deficit, promising stability in the financial market in the coming weeks.

 He acknowledged the need for a consistent policy framework and commitment to global best practices. 

He said; “We’re coming up with solutions to address our FX deficit. In the coming weeks and months, I believe that we will weather the storm and stabilize the market. Most importantly, we have to create enabling environment; the rule of law, sanctity of contracts and our tendicies to flip-flop on policies. We make policies today, next week there’ll be a change in policy; these are issues that we are going to address and we are willing to adhere to global best practices for Nigeria in to thrive.”

Shettima also addressed security concerns, revealing plans to overhaul the nation’s security architecture in the coming weeks and months. He said; “The president is rejigging the security architecture and seeing to it that the issues of security are addressed in the coming weeks and months.”

He stressed the significance of trust and empathy in rebuilding confidence, stating that the world needs leaders that prioritise humanity’s interests. 

He said, “The most important thing to rebuild confidence is trust; it has to be anchored on empathy. The world needs quality leaders that will put the interest of humanity over and above the interest of individual nations or communities.”

Watch the interview for details..

Eloho Otugo

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