Lagos, Nigeria, 28 November 2008 (By Harrington Harmon, Business Day, Nigeria) - The spiritual head of the people of Tibet, the Dalai Lama, has extolled the potentials of Nigeria's economy, and praised the people for sustaining democracy and democratic governance.
He spoke yesterday while delivering a keynote address on the occasion of the 10th anniversary of the Emmanuel Osigwe Anyiam-Osigwe Foundation at Nigerian Institute of International Affairs, Lagos.
On a larger scale, he said Africa is the root of all human beings, and a vast land having great potentials, but deplored the fact that there are a lot of sad things going on on the continent, including war and starvation. This increases the incidences of poverty, illiteracy, and HIV/AIDS, he said, stressing that all of this is morally wrong and have to stop. But he placed the onus squarely on Africans to make concerted efforts to fight these incidences.
He pointed out that one means of bridging the wealth gap between the rich and the poor is by developing mental self-confidence. Citing South Africa as a case in point, he said that after the political liberation from apartheid in that country, individuals have had to grapple with the issue of mental liberation because no individual can be economically liberated without first being mentally emancipated adding, one has to ward off inferiority complex.
Also, speaking about respect for life, he cautioned that while Africa's population increases it is important it grows at a level that the economy can sustain.
