President Bola Tinubu on Saturday wooed Arab investors to come to invest in Nigeria, telling them to “forget” Nigeria’s damaged perception as corrupt and the giant of Africa plagued with elephantiasis. 

“Perception of Nigeria has been that of layback corruption and giant of Africa with elephantiasis. But that’s is gone. The realisation of that hope is here. The belief is here. The change of the perception is right here,” said Mr Tinubu.

“Forget the categorisation of corruption. Forget it. It will happen no more. Don’t give and don’t take. We are here as a team to change that perception,” Mr Tinubu added.

The president spoke at a Nigeria-Saudi Investment Roundtable with captains of Saudi Arabian Industry in Riyadh.

Mr Tinubu added that Nigeria is blessed “with a large population. This population is full of can-do attitude young, vibrant and well-educated human capacity. Equally, Nigerian consumer is necessary for the economic growth of the continent. So the elephantiasis is cured from this moment on.” 

Recently, Mr Tinubu, during a bilateral meeting with the German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and his entourage in the Presidential Villa, Abuja, admitted Nigeria’s economy was “crawling”.

Since assuming office, Mr Tinubu, who has a certificate forgery scandal hanging on his neck, has appointed persons with corruption cases into his government, raising doubt about his seriousness in tackling corruption.

Former Kebbi Governor Atiku Bagudu, now budget and national planning minister, was a bagman for the former military dictator, whose loot is still being recovered from other countries. Nigeria recently got another tranche of $150 million Abacha loot from France last month.

On November 3, Peoples Gazette reported how Mr Tinubu appointed  Aisha Rimi, previously indicted by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) for the alleged diversion of Lagos state government funds to the tune of N3 billion, as CEO of the Nigerian Investment Promotion Commission (NIPC).

Indicted for fraud, Mrs Rimi signed an MOU with Saudi Arabia as a member of Nigeria’s delegation to Saudi Arabia-Africa Summit, where Mr Tinubu told investors to forget corruption and invest in Nigeria.