Nigerians can transform the country into a truly great nation if the things that make them miserable are avoided and their thinking and values are transformed, the Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment has said.

Mr Okechukwu Enelamah said this on Monday while speaking on the topic ‘Wanted: A new tribe to build the Nigeria of our dream’, at The Platform.

Even though the country is facing daunting challenges, the Minister is optimistic that the country can become truly great within a short period of time. Achieving that objective will require some investment, however.

“As we invest in and transform people’s thinking and values, Nigerians will transform Nigeria into a truly great nation,” he said.

Monday’s edition of The Platform had the theme, ‘Putting together the jigsaw pieces that form Nigeria’ and the minister believes that feat can be easily achieved by focusing on what makes Nigerians successful.

“We too can put the jigsaw pieces that form Nigeria back together in a relatively short time if we focus on our people and invert to solve the problem by avoiding the things that make our people miserable and replacing them with things that make them successful. As a nation, we need to focus on our people and what makes them successful.”

Mr Enelamah also called for a new approach to solving the nation’s problem.

This, he said, is because “many problems are best solved when they are addressed backward”, an approach he believes differs from that often taken by Nigeria.

“The way complex adaptive systems work and the way mental constructs work is that problems frequently get easier, I would even say are easier to solve, if you can turn them around in reverse,” he said.

“In other words, if you want to help Nigeria, the basic question you should ask is not ‘how can I help Nigeria? But ‘What is doing us the worst damage?’ ‘What will be the outcome and how can I change it to a good result?’ Figure out what is it you don’t want, avoid it, and go for the best alternative.”