Victor Attach, the former governor of Akwa Ibom State stressed that Nigeria refused from being one of the major foreign exchange earners in the world when its citizens started showing an appetite for ‘ponmo’(cowhide) consumption.

According to Business Research Insights, the global cowhide product market size is anticipated to be worth $174bn in 2022. The market is projected to touch $349bn in 2031 with a CAGR of 8.0 per cent during the forecast period.

The ex-governor narrate some of the ways Nigeria could have earn foreign exchange but failed to do so, the drop in foreign Direct Investment into Nigeria despite foreign trip by government officials and more.

He said, “The international natural leather trade is probably the one that reveals how pathetic our nation has made itself with regard to the question “what can we sell?” The world’s leading producers are China, Italy, India, Brazil, Korea and Russia. While the top four African producers are Egypt, Ethiopia, South Africa and Morocco.

“Yet, up to the 1970s, Nigeria was the largest producer and exporter of hides and skins. Our decline from one of the major foreign exchange earners in the world to where we are todaystarted from when we began to consume animal skins – which we hitherto exported. As it is often said, “you can’t eat your cake and have it”, Nigerians are discovering that we can’t eat ponmo and earn foreign exchange from natural leather. The global market for natural leather keeps expanding; just as our appetite for ‘ponmo’ apparently has no limit.”

According to Attach, who was governor between 1999 and 2007 said that he pitched the idea of taking advantage of China’s huge population by convincing them to drink cocoa instead of their usual traditional drink.

“I remember that as a governor, I had an opportunity to discuss this question of what we can sell with the president. The focus was cocoa. We talked about China and its very large population and how beneficial it would be to Nigeria if we could get the Chinese to adopt a cup of cocoa rather than their traditional drink of baijiu as a night cap. It turned out to be mere wishful thinking because we did not pursue the idea any further nor did we formulate any strategy to promote it.

Rather we stopped funding the Cocoa Research Institute of Nigeria Our production went down and so did the quality,” he stated.

Attah also stated that the 2023 election which was won by President Bola Tinubu, the electoral process and the judiciary further damaged the reputation of Nigeria in the comity of nations, thus hampering the flow of investment.

“Let me say that the circumstances and conduct of the 2023 elections caused serious damage to the character of our President, our number one salesman, our electoral process and our judiciary. It left Nigeria therefore with a badly damaged image. It is difficult enough to sell a good product in the face of stiff competition, to sell a damaged product is a daunting task. Certain other factors have worked to exacerbate this problem.

“These include the lack of security, non-observance of the rule of law, corruption and lack of basic infrastructure, particularly power. Others, which could be corrected with legislation and policy adjustments are, ease of doing business which includes the process of obtaining a visa and arrival protocols at our various entry points; a stable exchange rate which would enable prospective investors to realistically calculate risks and finally, the simple matter of courtesy,” he averred.

To be successful at selling Nigeria to foreigners for whatever reasons, Attah said the salespersons need training.

“Those trying to sell Nigeria or its products to the world would need proper training and must be imbued with a high dose of patriotism. Whatever we want to offer must be of pristine quality and we must be always conscious of the fact that we have competitors and whoever we want to sell to has a choice. I remember that as a pineapple farmer and exporter, my proudest moment was when I received a letter from Fyffes, one of the largest UK fruit merchants asking me to name-tag my pineapples because the British housewife was beginning to ask for my Alvita pineapples by name.

“Can we therefore sell Nigeria to the outside world, post 2023 elections? My answer, without a doubt, is definitely yes. We must not destroy its image any further but rather take all necessary and appropriate steps to correct all perceived wrongs. We can start by selling Nigeria to Nigerians. This will require patriotic zeal and a firm determination to reconcile all aggrieved parties; to develop national core values that are shared by all and, together, march with confidence to challenge the world anchored in the firm determination to be the best always,” he concluded.