By Edward Oseghe
A Professor of Business Administration and Deputy Vice-Chancellor of Wellspring University, Prof. Patrick Stephen Ohikhena, has called for a decisive national reset to dismantle entrenched barriers to entrepreneurship, urging Nigeria to embrace bold, depoliticised policies that prioritise local production, innovation, and self-reliance.
Ohikhena made the call while delivering the final charge at the 3rd Inaugural Lecture of the university, held on Thursday at its ceremonial auditorium in Benin City.
The lecture, titled “From Nigeria’s Entrepreneurship Wilderness Experience to Wealth: Overcoming the Five Key Retardation Forces,” examined structural and historical impediments to the nation’s economic growth.
He described Nigeria’s prolonged “entrepreneurship wilderness experience” as the outcome of five enduring forces: pre-colonial leadership limitations and the comprador legacy; colonial exploitation; a culture of acquiescence he termed “suffering and smiling”; and the challenges of the neo-colonial digital age. According to him, these factors have collectively entrenched Nigeria’s role as a supplier of raw materials and skilled labour to foreign economies, rather than a producer of finished goods.
The professor traced the country’s stunted economic trajectory to the neglect of agriculture, overdependence on oil, corruption, multiple taxation on small and medium enterprises, erratic power supply, land-related challenges, and underfunded education and research. He also linked insecurity to rising food scarcity, inflation, and worsening living conditions.
Ohikhena stressed the need for policies insulated from political interference and rooted in national interest, arguing that such frameworks must become part of Nigeria’s development culture to ensure sustainability.
He called for a strategic shift towards indigenous production, supported by innovation, research, and local capacity development, while maintaining balanced global knowledge exchange.
He further advocated a reorientation of public values to reduce reliance on imported goods and build confidence in locally made products, insisting that Nigeria has the potential to emerge as Africa’s economic leader. Emphasising export-driven growth, he noted that sustainable development depends on generating foreign exchange through domestic production rather than external borrowing.
Warning against excessive reliance on diaspora remittances and foreign investment, Ohikhena highlighted the risks of capital flight and urged the utilisation of Nigeria’s abundant raw materials to drive local manufacturing. He maintained that even modest beginnings in production would improve with time and consistency.
On human capital, he underscored the urgency of reversing the brain drain by creating an enabling environment for productivity and innovation. He also called for an education system that prioritises practical skills and entrepreneurship.
Vice-Chancellor of Wellspring University, Prof. Isaac Rotimi, described the lecture as a roadmap for economic revival, commending Ohikhena’s contributions to academia and national development.
Other scholars at the event similarly lauded the lecture as a comprehensive diagnosis of Nigeria’s economic challenges and a blueprint for sustainable progress.
