By Mike Ozekhome
INTRODUCTION
Politics reigns supreme over the current economy as the determinant of who gets what, when, where and how. Politics is at the root of the country’s endless problems. Across the various levels of government, there is scant evidence that authorities have a handle on problems. On this sad note, we shall continue our discourse on this vexed issue. Read on.
A FUNNY COUNTRY: MISPLACED PRIORITIES (continues)
Meanwhile, an assortment of Non- State Actors – from armed serenaded bandits to kidnappers and terrorists – have laid vicious siege on large swathes of the country, holding hapless citizens hostage with their campaign of unremitting terror and brigandage. No one and nowhere is either safe or immune – including the capital city, Abuja, the President’s home State (and home-town) of Kastina and Daura, respectively. Some of those abducted have remained in captivity for almost a decade (the Chibok and Dapchi hostages), Infrastructure such as prisons and trains/rail tracks are targeted seemingly at will – with little or no resistance from those paid to safeguard such assets and our very lives. With the next general elections half a year away, the political class have resumed their 4-yearly ritual of promise-making and mudslinging. Nigeria practices Electionocracy, plutocracy, gerotencracy, judocracy, Executocracy, and legistocracy but never democracy as defined by Abraham Lincoln in his November, 19, 1863 Getty’s Burg declaration of democracy being a government of the people, by the people and for the people.
The only difference this time is that the usual suspects have been joined by a seeming upstart who is giving the former a run for their money. Is he a genuine hope of a break from the past? Does he represent the future which his supporters (and they are legion) portray him to be?
THE SPECTACULAR FAILURE OF THE BUHARI GOVERNMENT
Time will tell. If the late Chinua Achebe and other informed analysts are correct (and there is no reason to believe that they are not), the historical failure of governance at all levels continues to this day with the incumbent Government at the center led by President Muhammed Buhari being particularly blameworthy. This is not political partisanship, but simply an informed, objective, conclusion from verifiable facts.
We all recall the enthusiasm and hope which greeted his election in 2015. The belief was that, at the very least, being a retired General, he would deal decisively with the rampant insecurity in the form of the dreaded, now proscribed Boko Haram terrorist organization within 3 months. Beyond that, there was also a perception (perhaps based on his seeming no-nonsense persona), that he would not condone official corruption. A young man Mohammed Isah) trekked from Lagos to Lokoja; Dahiru Buba from Gombe to Abuja, Suleiman Hashiman walked 750 kilometers from Lagos to Abuja (1.12 hours per day to celebrate Buhari’s victory in 2015. Mohammed Kabiru rode a bike from Kaduna to Abuja. Such euphoria that a messiah had come at last. Alas, both beliefs have turned out to be misplaced, as both ills have not only thrived under his watch, they have increased exponentially. The situation appears to be worse than it might actually be because of the President’s apparent insensitivity, as he always gives the impression (from media interviews and his famed dead-pan and inscrutinable ‘body language’) that he is detached from reality. His frequent foreign trips (some call them junkets) lend credence to this – especially their timing in the midst of the latest outrage by the aforesaid Non-State Actors. To many Nigerians, the President is simply not in charge – even if he is in office. He has perhaps never heard of Harry Truman’s dictum that “the buck stops here”.
Nigeria’s passport holders are regularly isolate for special checks and scrutiny in foreign airports because they have earned, as a class, a reputation for crime – especially economic crime. But, this is just the tip of the ice-berg. Among ourselves, back home, we are routinely uncharitable, unkind and unpatriotic. We see public property (especially public funds) as bona vacantia (ownerless property) to the mismanaged and, where possible plundered at will – with impunity. Critical institution which ought to make a difference in curbing such excesses – particularly law enforcement organizations and the judiciary – are themselves either gasping for breath, playing catch-up, or in some instances, willfully complicit in the various malfeasances of the polity.
HOW SOCIETAL VALUES DISAPPEARED
Our values have gone thrown overboard and jettisoned in the mad rush by seemingly everyone (but particularly our youths, the supposed future of tomorrow) to get rich quick by all means, fair or foul. Religious institutions are not left out. Many of them glorify wealth and openly glorify its acquisition and its conspicuous display, with celebrity clergy now rubbing shoulders with the jet-set and becoming as glamorous as rock stars, actors, politicians and other celebrities. Known thieves and celebrated criminals are given front rows in churches; front row mats in mosques and are garlanded with national honours and doctorate degrees in our university. All these in a atmosphere were, as a result of the activities of a motley crew of terrorists, bandits and kidnappers, life has – to quote John Hobbes – became increasingly solitary nasty, brutish and short. This is not an exaggeration, as even egg-heads – university lecturers – have joined in the scramble for the good things of life and they are presently involved in an industrial action (for the umpteenth time) which is in its seventh month – and it doesn’t look like it will end any time soon.
In short, everything that can possibly go wrong with Nigeria seems to have been done or is doing so. There is seemingly no end in sight as the outlook is all doom and gloom. The political class must be sampled out for blame – for obvious reasons: they control the levers of power. Unfortunately, they have failed, calamitously, to wield it for the public good and have, collectively, been responsible – more than any other group of Nigerians (except, perhaps, the Military) – for the sorry state in which we find ourselves. Each of them, to a man (or woman), has been singularly (and shockingly) selfish clannish, uninspiring and largely incompetent and unpatriotic. As role models, they have been anything except that. On the contrary, Nigerians are routinely regaled with stories of official corruption and graft, which in some instances, assumed bizarre – if not comical – dimensions, with an assortment of wild animals – from chimpanzees, to snakes and even termites being blamed for the disappearance of humongous amounts of cash in public coffers. Civil servants have graduated from crèches under President Yar’ Adua and Jonathan where they fleeced the country of few billions, to tertiary and post-graduate institution where they now pocket hundred of billion of naira.
It is hardly surprising, then, that an increasing number of young Nigerians have become disillusioned and lost hope in their country and, as a consequence, taken their destinies in their hands by choosing to vote with their feet and emigrating, some by road, other through the deserts and seas.
The demographics of those involved is diverse – from the not-so-educated to professionals, with Nigeria doctors and nurses, in particularly, reportedly among the highest arrivals in the EU,UK, Canada, the US, the UAE and elsewhere.
The cost of this obvious brain-drain is incalculable and it remains to be seen how it will affect our development and future generations. Beyond even all that, it is equally clear that, politically, Nigeria has never been as divided as now, with large sections of the country openly clamouring for secession while others, who are not going that far, ask for the country to be re-structured with more power devolved to its component parts, particularly in the areas of security and fiscal federalism paradox of our situation than the following by an anonymous online analyst 1:
NIGERIA HAS SINCE BORROWED HER FUTURE
The D-G of the Debt Management Office (DMO) recently alarmed Nigerians when she casually confirmed that Nigeria’s total debt as at March, 2022, stands at N41.60 trillion. Nigeria has been running serious budget defiats. According to the World bank Survey report of 197 Countries, Nigeria came 195 beating only Yemen and Afghanistan.
Nigeria that used N10trillion for the 2022, oil subsidy regime is expected to use N9trillion in 2023. The size of the borrowing is 62% of the budget. Nigeria now borrows to service debt interest; not the debt itself. We have literally become a vassal of and dependant on China, that has its shy lock fingers on different aspects of the economy, ranging from metrol light rails, hydro power dams, free trade zones, to transportation and telecommunications. The trade deficit between Nigeria and China is 80% – 200% of bilateral trade volumes. Nigeria imports 10 times more than it exports to China.
NIGERIA PAYS FOR DARKNESS
Nigeria ought to be producing at least 12,522 MW of electricity today with abundant sources of power through coal, hydro, oil (petroleum) and natural gas, Nigeria has every options the TCN (Transmission Companies of Nigeria) and the Discos that distribute electricity generated by Gencos. The Discos call the shot, forcing Nigeria to pay for darkness. Small Kenya of ….. people generates 1.043 gigawatts; Ghana installed capacity of 3,655.5 MW. Compare Nigeria, a country of 217.4 million people generating … of electricity, less than 1000 of South Africa with 60.9 million people which generates 5,095MW. What a shame!
THE DESERTION AND RELOCATION OF INDUSTRIES
Most major industries that were very famous in Nigeria in the 70%, 80% and 90% have either withered and died away or relocated to neighboring countries due to incumbent and uncondusive prevailing conditions. Between 2009-2014, 322 private firms closed down in Nigeria due to strangulating business regulations, corruption and unstable political environment, according to a World Bank Enterprise Survey.
Factories and companies that have folded up in Nigeria include Berec Batteries, Exide Batteries, Okin Biscuits, Aladja, Jos and Osogbo Steel Rolling Mills; Nigeria Sugar Company, Tale and Lyle sugar company; Nigeria Paper Mill Ltd, Nigerian Newsprint Manufacturing Company at Oku-Iboku; and the Nigeria National Paper Manufacturing Company in Ogun State.
Six Automobile Assembly Plants, including Peugeot, Volkswagen, Anambra Motor Manufacturing Ltd, Steyr, National Truck Manufacturers, Fiat and Leyland, have all kissed the canvas and gone into extinction. 38 textile companies, including Afprint, Aswani, Arewa Textiles, Unitex, Supertex, Asaba, Odua, Edo and Aba Textile Mills; Nigerian Synthethic Fabrics, First Spinners, Kaduna and United Nigeria Textile Mills, have gone into historical oblivion. What about the Ughelli Glass Industry; Okpella Cement Factory? Glaxo Smithe Khline, Agbare, Industrial hub? Gone or, about to.
To be continued…
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