Osinbajo: There’s nothing Nigerian about failure

Acting President Yemi Osinbajo has charged citizens of the country to work twards success, saying “there is nothing Nigerian about failure”.

Speaking in Abuja at the cabinet retreat on the economic recovery growth plan (ERGP) and the 2018 budget preparation, Osinbajo said the current administration would no longer accept excuses that suggest that its quest to deliver sustainable socio-economic development to Nigerians is not possible.

The retreat, which held in the state house, was also attended by Idris Jala, a former Malaysian government official, who was guest speaker.

The acting president said Nigeria has to make a choice between of which “commodity” to buy between failure and success.

“The excuse that it won’t work here, the Nigerian factor, or some say exceptionalism or the acceptance of failure before you even start is certainly not tenable anymore,” he said.

“We simply have to accept that there is nothing Nigerian about failure because as we know in our personal lives, failure and success are commodities on offer to everyone all over the world and every individual and every country makes a choice of which to buy.

“I will say on our behalf that we will choose success. I think it goes beyond motivational speech. I think it really challenges the core of our relevance as leaders and I am challenged and I know that many of us here too.

“I think that we will do what we need to do to make sure that we see through the labs that we have to identify specific areas where we will do these labs. We must see to it that this works.”