LAWAL, NIGERIAN US BASED OIL BARON, US LAWMAKER PROFFER SOLUTIONS TO NIGERIA

Nigerian born Houston-based oil tycoon, Dr. Kase Lawal and US Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee have commended the Heart of Africa initiative of the Federal government, as the Nigerian image making project rounds off its US launching Tuesday evening in Houston, Texas, Empowered Newswire reports.

 

At the relaunch of the Heart of Africa project in Houston, a US city reputed to be home to the largest numbers of Nigerians in the US, Information Minister Frank Nweke gave a moving presentation on the image making project insisting that Nigerians must rise up to the occasion of defending the country's moral heritage in the face of media misrepresentation.

 

Speakers at the Houston relaunch on Tuesday included the US Congresswoman from Houston, Jackson Lee who revealed that she was partly educated in the Universities of Ibadan and Lagos attesting to the vibrancy of Nigeria's higher education.

 

According to Lee, a top democratic member of the US House of Representative, Nigeria is a great nation whose leadership role in Africa is important. According to her "Nigeria is one of the largest markets in the world, and one of the foremost economies in Africa."

 

But she expressed concern that in-spite of the oil wealth in Nigeria, 91% of Nigerians still live below the poverty line. She called for a partnership between Nigerians and African-Americans to work on creating job opportunities for Nigerians and also to execute the Heart of Africa project.

 

According to her, the Information Minister should set up Steering Committees in US cities where the Heart of Africa project has been launched so that after "you have left" there would be a continuation of this campaign to correct the wrong assumptions about Nigeria.

 

Nigerian-born US based oil tycoon, Dr. Kase Lawal, the founder of the biggest African-American owned business and winner of the Best African American company of the year CAMAC was also at the event.

 

According to Lawal, who drew a lot of applause from the audience during and after his speech, he would have loved it if the Heart of Africa project had been in place several years ago in the 90s when he was looking for partners to realise federal government's decision then to have indigenous operators in the oil sector. He said as he traveled around 16 countries he was confronted with bad stories about Nigeria, which a programme like the Heart of Africa would have corrected.

 

"Why did it take us so long," he queried, adding however that it is better late than never. Lawal encouraged US investors to take interest in Nigeria saying there is no other place with an over 30% return on investment in the world apart from Nigeria.

 

Speaking earlier Information and Communications Minister Nweke said he could simply not accept the impression in the western media that Nigerians are fraudulent, submitting that while there are few Nigerians who are involved in nefarious activities, there are several and many more doing wonderful things in the US.

 

He said the FG was working to stamp out the 419 menace which continue to drag the name of the country in the mud, but asked the governments of other countries whose citizens fall for the bait to check their citizens' own greed, which he said explained why someone would want to reap where they did not sow.

 

Nweke delivered a comprehensive presentation of the Heart of Africa project which dazzled his audience highlighting the positive things about Nigeria including its great names like Wole Soyinka, Chinua Achebe, and other rich historical and cultural values.

 

Nigeria's Ambassador to the US, Professor George Obiozor was also at the Houston Launch, which ended with a gala on Tuesday night.