Nigeria’s worsening challenges could become major sources of wealth and development if citizens learn to turn problems into profitable solutions, the Mayor of Housing, My-ACE China, has said.

China, a real estate strategist and entrepreneur, warned that failure to harness the economic opportunities in the country’s problems could leave foreigners solving Nigeria’s challenges and taking away the fortunes they generate.

Speaking in Port Harcourt at Nigeria’s 66th Independence anniversary, he identified seven pillars of the country’s barriers including: cash-money mentality, “go-grabber” political culture, personal-gratification leadership, blame culture, failure to monetise problems, myopic local thinking and lack of courage as major barriers to national development.

According to him, Nigeria’s development crisis requires a fundamental shift in mindset, beginning with individual independence.

He said: “Individual independence supersedes and precedes national independence. Every Nigerian needs the independence to think, the independence to produce financial independence and, above all, independence from his landlord.”

China argued that Nigerians did not necessarily need handouts or someone to lean on, but a level playing field to deploy their skills, ideas and resources.

“They have legs and hands to work. They only need a level-playing ground to operate and do their own things,” he said.

He said the “cash-money mentality” had become a major constraint, with many Nigerians equating wealth solely with physical cash while overlooking ideas, knowledge, trust, integrity, services and solutions as forms of wealth.

He argued that cash becomes valuable largely through productive exchange, stressing that wealth could be created from ideas and solutions without large amounts of initial capital.

“Money is idea, trust, integrity, value, service and solutions. The oldest money is knowledge; the biggest money is scale; the highest currency is relationship, while the latest money is attention,” he said.

China also criticised what he described as Nigeria’s “go-grabber political culture”, saying the national question had gradually shifted from what can I do for Nigeria? to what can I grab from Nigeria?

He said the mindset had encouraged the pursuit of personal and family interests at the expense of national development.

On leadership, the housing expert called for leaders capable of postponing personal gratification in favour of public interest.

He said Nigeria had lost many of its best brains and hands to the diaspora, while some of those who remained in the country had become detached from national affairs.

“There must be a rising and daring to rise of these super-mature leaders,” he said.

China also blamed what he termed “holistic extrinsic blame culture” for slowing development, arguing that Nigerians must take greater responsibility for solving problems instead of constantly blaming government or other individuals.

He said the same principle informed his decision to pursue housing solutions despite the challenges associated with the sector.

“I have not only taken it upon myself to solve the housing problems in Nigeria and Africa, but to do so whether the government helps or not,” he said.

He identified the failure to recognise opportunities in national problems as another obstacle, arguing that Nigerians should see challenges as markets for innovation.

Citing the country’s housing deficit, he said the estimated 24-million-unit gap represented a huge economic opportunity.

“I see the 24 million units of housing deficit in Nigeria as trillions and trillions of money,” he said.

“Until we see problems as money and national problems as big money, we may keep having that as a barrier to national development.”

He also warned that many indigenous solutions remained small because their promoters lacked the ambition or capacity to scale them beyond their immediate communities.

“If the biggest money is scale, not knowing how to scale can only give you small money and bring small local developments,” he said.

China urged Nigerians with viable ideas to pursue national and international scale rather than waiting indefinitely for government support.

He said Nigeria’s future depended largely on citizens with the courage and capacity to create solutions despite bureaucratic and political obstacles.

Beyond the mindset challenges, he identified poor infrastructure, inadequate human capital, dependence on primary products, declining terms of trade, inadequate savings and capital accumulation, corruption and poor governance, the impact of civil conflict, and foreign exchange shortages as structural constraints to economic growth.

He maintained that converting Nigeria’s challenges into scalable solutions would require a new generation of citizens prepared to take responsibility for national development. (The Guardain)