The WorldStage Economic Summit 2017 held at the Event Centre of the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE), Lagos on August 23, 2017 with the theme ‘Transforming Business and Economy Through Innovation’ has made a very strong case for innovation in the public and private sectors, noting that the first problem that the nation must solve before the economy can be transformed through innovation is leadership.

In the communiqué of the summit which was graced by top officials from the public and private sectors, it resolved that “Innovation is critical to business and economic advancement, it is not rocket science, it remains the key agent in transforming business and the economy of Nigeria.”

Other resolutions in the communiqué include: “Innovation is about thinking out of the box and having the courage to implement new ideas; it requires commitment and zeal to do it.

“Failure is one of the driving forces of innovation, people should get used to progressive or positive failure for innovation to be accomplished.

“Development and application of innovation had helped to break the monopoly of some multi-national manufacturers who once dominated the Nigerian market.

“Nigeria needs knowledgeable leadership to solve its problems and can learn from the example of the United Arabs Emirate (UAE) which used to be mere transit point for travellers but has now become a hub of economic activities through innovation spurred by knowledge-driven leadership.

“Nigeria must emulate countries like Bahrain that provided infrastructure and facilities needed for economy to grow.

“Until leaders began to be responsible and do the right things, the country would continue to grope in the dark for redemption.

“It’s the duty of government to provide the space for business to thrive as innovation and creativity are vital skills required by entrepreneurs to transform their businesses.

“Entrepreneurs should consciously search for innovation as they analyse all the opportunities that present themselves before launching into them.

“Effective innovation must be ‘KISS’ compliant, which means (Keep It Short and Simple) and they must address 7Ps which are Product, Place, Promotion, Price, People, Process and Physical Evidence, but the 7Ps can only fly when innovation is applied to each of one of them.

“To build the Nigerian Brand requires conscious effort by the public sector and strong partnership with the Private sector.

“Innovation must be a tool to enhance processes and delivery and to fast track the process of Doing Business in the country.

“Except the status quo is broken in the Nigerian power sector, the economy will remain in comatose for a longer time to come.

“Nigerian power sector privatisation was faulty and an uninterrupted power supply must not expect very soon, but the sector will only work when all Nigerians collaborate by killing corruption in the system.

“The woes bedevilling electricity production and supply in Nigeria include politicisation, lack of policy continuity by successive administrations, biased reporting by the media and corrupt practices by the general public.

“Application of innovation had led to the discovery of a huge deception by the old order that declared a ridiculous figure of 6.75 million as number of electricity consumers in the Nigeria, as some two million more consumers had been added.

“Government must be consistent in its policies towards reviving the power sector as continuity in the implementation of government agenda is the only way out for Nigeria.

“With efforts by government to put Nigeria in its rightful position economically yet to yield the desired results after many years, all hands must be on deck for the nation to move forward.

“Government must formulate policies that will help the teeming number of young people in Nigeria unleash the potentials in them.

“The general public must be honest in all its dealing if the country is to move forward and the benefits of innovation not elude it.”

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