By Sam Okey Mbonu
The Oil-Boom Is Over
One of the realities, which many Nigerians need to come to
grips with, is the fact that this is an era where actual productivity will be
required of all Nigerians, across the North-South divide. Or, to put it another way, the “Oil Boom” is
over! The boom is not coming back;
in-fact Oil may drop to as low as $20 dollars per barrel, between the next few
months and early 2016. Therefore, every
state in the Republic of Nigeria will henceforth need to invariably create an
environment for the economic growth and well-being of its people, through
innovative home-grown policies, amid robust internal revenues.
Robust internal revenues can only be spurred by private
sector or public-private sector initiatives.
Where an enabling environment has been created for businesses to thrive,
all the government need do is sit back and collect taxes, both payroll taxes
from an active workforce and entrepreneurs, and corporate taxes from corporate
investors.
Folks who celebrated the new administration, because they
erroneously believed that a particular person holding the reins of government,
is a “my turn to chop” opportunity; or where state governors or political
cronies head to Abuja, cap-in-hand to collect from the overflowing oil
revenues, will be severely disappointed, because there may be nothing to
distribute.
Opportunities In The
Midst of Crisis
Underlying the Nigerian economy is the fact that every one
of Nigeria’s 36 states has opportunities to attract investments through
attractive propositions to investors.
Each state also has opportunities to develop at a rapid pace, if it gets
its act together. In the event that the
governor of a particular state does not know what to do, there’s nothing wrong,
with as an example, Adamawa state, seeking to collaborate with a fast rising
state like Anambra state, which is currently number one in education and new
investments.
In the United States, where this Council is based, and where
most of our personnel and Advisors have performed in policy-making roles, the
states are either in fierce competition with each other to attract investors,
or are frequently studying successful models of economic growth, and adapting
these models to their own states. There
is obviously no need to reinvent the wheel.
The
“Nigerian-American Leadership Council (NALC)”, boasts of both US and Nigerian
personnel who have held high-level positions; and served as US Presidential and
US State appointees at different times.
Many of them have proven their worth in the US, and around the
world. However proffering solid
advisory, based on experience and expertise is one thing; but actual adoption
of these advisories by the recipient, is a different thing altogether. It is obvious that one cannot force persons
in any given administration to adopt tried and tested successful policies.
Some Continuity May
Be Warranted
Our experience with the previous administration under
Goodluck Jonathan was unfortunately a cause for disappointment. In 2013, a senior member of Dr. Jonathan’s
government visited our Washington offices for three (3) days of briefings,
valued in multiple-million dollars at no charge. The official who was a Senior Presidential
Adviser returned back to Abuja without corresponding with this Council
according to the terms of the meeting, rather he outrageously tried to twist
the program for private benefits, and attempted to implement a half-baked
version of the program, without recourse to this Council. Of course he failed woefully, and made their
administration look terrible. That
incident showed us the level of mediocrity the core group around that president
entertained, and we knew it was downhill from that point.
The above account is not to disparage the entire previous
administration, as there were some very bright stars in that administration,
especially Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala in Finance, and Dr. Akinwumi Adesina in
Agriculture. These two persons among a
tiny clique, delivered for that administration.
When a technocrat is good they are good, and we do not expect you to
play politics with incompetence. We
expect you to evaluate some of the good initiatives of your predecessor, and
continue them, especially in agriculture, tight fiscal control, and Almajiri
education.
The Future of Nigeria
This Council has reviewed the enormous research we have
conducted on Nigeria in recent years; and we have come to the inevitable
conclusion that though massive corruption has held Nigeria down, however, the
biggest impediment to economic growth in Nigeria is the lack of reliable
electric power in Nigeria.
The horrors of epileptic and insufficient power supply in
Nigeria, is very well known. Persons who
have never lived outside Nigeria may never fully comprehend this matter
clearly; suffice it to say that the lack of sufficient power has caused Nigeria
to perform at about ten (10) percent of its true potential. The Nigerian people are very entrepreneurial
and energetic. If the government
facilitates reliable electricity, they will go out and create their own
businesses, and generate their own employment.
There are so many services that reliable electricity can spur, from
technicians to agro/food industry, to small –scale servicers.
The power shortages have forced numerous companies to move
operations elsewhere. The power
situation has held down small business and entrepreneurship from blossoming.
The power situation has held down productivity from every sector, both public
and private. The lack of power turns a
twenty (20) minute automobile service call to a 24 hour ordeal, with its
attendant loss of time and productivity to the customer and the servicer.
Our researchers in Nigeria have witnessed all productivity
shut down in government offices, even in the federal seat of power, when
computers shut down, due to a power shortage.
In these cases, even the most diligent public servant even inside Aso
Rock cannot perform fully. Backup
generators may come up, but the loss in a train-of-thought may never be
recaptured.
A State of Emergency
Mr. President Sir, you must declare an emergency in power,
if you expect Nigeria to arise economically.
You must supervise the power ministry yourself, or through a trusted
aide, who you can fire at short notice, if you see signs of incompetence. You must be open to all the newly available
“renewable” energy, especially in “solar” and “wind” energy technology. Previous governments threw money at the power
problem, but we know persons high and low in the power ministry misappropriated
those monies, and left Nigerians holding an empty bag. You may also supervise the Petroleum Ministry
closely, but all you may need to do in that case, is to plug the avenues of
instant-wealth and corruption in the Petroleum Ministry.
Without adequate power, Nigeria will never truly arise. No one can power a modern country on
generators. If power is fixed, the
economy will be so robust that corruption in government will become
infinitesimal, because more people will be making their living in the private
sectors, rather than in the public sector.
In that scenario, government will just sit back and collect taxes. That is the model of economic prosperity.
Do Not Let
Incompetent Hands Drag Your Administration Down
You must also bring competent hands into government. You have to be firm. You can have your friends come around to chat
in the evening and drink tea, but you owe it to Nigerians to listen to
Nigerians who bring fresh expertise from different corners of the globe. There are many Nigerians who fit that mold
globally, and many who do not bring the massive baggage of corruption that some
of the people around you bring. You can
do this, and we wish you luck.
(Mbonu is Executive Director of Washington-based Nigerian-American
Leadership Council. He can be reached at: Tel: 202 379-2848, Ext 301, Email:
mbonu@nigerian-americancouncil.org)
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