Chairman, Heirs Holdings Ltd., Tony Elumelu, on Monday warned foreign investors to stop making reports that tarnish the image of Nigeria, thereby discouraging intending investors from bringing their businesses into the country.
Elumelu was speaking at the Presidential Policy Dialogue at the 18th National Economic Summit in Abuja.
He noted that though corruption should be tackled with iron fists in the system, it should not be the major focus of reporting issues concerning the country.
“Without sounding a bit defensive, I think we tend to over blow this issue of corruption in Nigeria and in fact, almost all the speakers who have spoken today are talking about corruption.
“When the GSM licensing started in Nigeria, most strong telecommunications company didn’t want to come to Nigeria to do business because they were afraid of corruption.
“MTN came to Nigeria to do business, they got the licence, the stock price crashed in South Africa Stock Exchange, they started five, six, seven years down the line; Nigeria produces over 60 per cent of their gross revenue across the world.
“But they don’t tell that story about Nigeria, the story you hear is about corruption,’’ he said.
According to him, his company won one of the biggest power stations in Nigeria at 200 million dollars without consulting anybody but going by the process.
He said that Nigeria is a country of over 170 million population and at such would have corrupt elements amongst its populace.
“Yes some people are corrupt in Nigeria, a country of about 170 million people; we have one, two, or five per cent that are corrupt; we talk so much about corruption and every speaker wants to talk about it instead of saying the good things,’’ he added