In a bid to encourage national development, rich Nigerians in foreign lands have been called upon to return and invest in the rural communities.
The Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Ofodili Ventures, Mr Chukwudi Okpara, made the call in an interview with newsmen last Monday in Port Harcourt.
He said, if wealthy Nigerians living overseas could return home and invest in their father land, the gap between rural and urban development would be closed.
Okpara noted that since each Nigerian residing in a foreign land had a home, such could at the same time transform his community to a world-class standard in terms of development.
The businessman, said that there was not enough reason in basing one’s business in an unknown land, which according to him, lacked security.
He maintained that through the establishment of business opportunities in the rural areas, the youth would be tempted to stay back in the place hereby reducing manpower scarcity.
He pointed out that the issue of unemployment would also be addressed, if wealthy Nigerians in the diaspora could have a rethink and invest at their respective homes.
Using himself as a case study, he said that his call for business was moved from Cameroon back to the country in order to give succor to some who needed it.
Furthermore, he hinted that the cost of running business abroad was exorbitant.
According to him, several dollars could go down the drain in an attempt to secure business registration in a foreign land.
On the issue of employment, he said much was also needed to hire people abroad, while labour in the country was cheap.
Earlier, he had discouraged the quest to travel abroad by Nigerian youths, saying that there were no better opportunities there.