FEATURE ARTICLE

Lucas AnuforoTuesday, May 3, 2016
[email protected]
Dublin, Ireland

ANNOUNCE THIS ARTICLE
TO YOUR FRIENDS

NIGERIA ON THE VERGE OF BROKEN ECONOMY


advertisement

"Every nation determines its own destiny; the clever the nation, the better the fate"...Mehmet Murat ildan.

n the history of every nation there's time for a bumper period and there comes an era of adversity. And it comes a time a nation's economic strength surge and thrives and more so a time of economic paucity thus depending on that country's leadership. The year 2015/2016 could be described as annus horribillis in Nigeria oil sector.

History has it that anything that has a beginning must equally have an end. An era begins and someday an era ends that's one of the philosophies of life.

Consequently, the endowment of crude oil in Nigeria has been a pain on the country. The resources that suppose to be a blessing has caused so much sorrow and anguish. It has reduced the nation's creditability to nothingness and created disunity, social injustice, greed, and inequality. One could hastily conclude that the discovery of oil in the country was a devil's gift.

Just before the current global oil crises I had the premonition in some years back that a day will come when Nigeria oil will be worthless in the international market and the so-called leaders who feed on this scarce resource would now serve with crude oil in replacement of juice and wine on their dinner table.

Nigerian leaders lack vision and skill to foresee when there is national crisis this in tells the repugnant direction of the economy and the government inability to adopt a good macroeconomic policy. For many years now the west were much sedulous to panacea the world energy problem through finding means to reduce the over dependent on the hydrocarbon product. However according to British Petroleum and Royal Dutch Shell by 2050 one- third of world's energy will come from solar, the wind and other renewable sources this will help to reduce climate change.

In the competitive economic world of today, a country's success is not being measured predominately by its natural resources but by its proficient human resource. Many countries in the western world had not been endowed with such enormous resources like Nigeria but then they were able to turn situations around to have sustainable economy. As a nation, Nigeria had its defining moment to join the league of the emerging economies but due to the abysmal maladroit exhibited by the inept leaders, the economy receded into tenebrous. Even before the current fall of the price of oil, the country was severally warned, by experts on the over-dependent on oil and the non-diversification of the economy but the successive government failed to heed to this calls. Today the price oil of has dropped and the country's economy is in turmoil. Once again, Nigeria is on the verge of seeking loan from both the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and from the People's Republic of China which will not only create more austerity and devaluation to the already strangled currency (Naira). It also means that further stress on the moribund economy might lead to economic crisis.

It is awful that despite the vast resources at its beck and call the country could not lift up the standard of life of its citizens. Statistically at present, about 85% of Nigerians still live in the poverty this postulate on the public opinion on how corrupt, egotistical and wicked the so-called leaders have been. The purpose for a country being blessed with immense resources is for the government of such nation to use it to uplift the living standard of its citizens through provision of some basic services of life and in return foster the facilitation of life expectancy and more so, optimise the output in production because as the saying "a healthy worker speeds production".

One of the legacies of the former President Olusegun Obasanjo's administration was his ability to repay the country foreign debt. In his inaugural speech on 29 May 1999, he clearly pointed out that one of the priority issues, which his administration must deal with was the debt issue. And he lived up to his word. He was able to use his influence and experience to reach out all the country's foreign creditors such as Paris Club and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for debt repayment and debt relief.

In April 2006 in South Africa, Reuters news agency reported that "President Olusegun Obasanjo of Nigeria announced that Nigeria will complete debt repayment of all debt owed to the Paris Club of creditors by Friday, April 21, 2006. Under terms of an agreement signed 2005, Nigeria will pay $12.4 billion in exchange for a debt cancellation of an estimated $18 billion, representing about 60% of the $30 billion Nigeria owed the Paris Club creditors. The agreement is the biggest debt relief deal for an African nation." Source? Reuters South Africa.

Unfortunately, both the late President Umaru Musa Yar'Adua and the immediate past President Good Luck Jonathan could not sustain the legacy instead; the country was nosedived once again into heavy debt due to recklessness and some unlawful spending exhibited by these leaders during their regime. Right from the onset the Nigerian leaders have shown the attitude of pretence of parsimony when it comes to handling public treasury but alas, the money will be later diverted to their personal investments. This is the nature of an average Nigerian leader!

The country's economic woes were as the result of a heap of accumulated corrupt practises initiated by those at the helms of affairs who used their lofty positions to amass wealth through the illegal acquisition of oil blocks and contracts which oodles of proceeds eventually end up in various foreign bank accounts. In Nigeria the reverse has been the case leaders are no longer serving the masses rather masses become the victims of subjugation and repression. The gap between the have and have-not becomes the modern day economic policy.

The issue of bailout loan should be the last option for Buhari after he must have exhausted all other avenues. What about the looted funds recovered from the past regime? This could be a lifeline for the economy. President Buhari should dislodge his mind on the intent to go for the foreign loan. There are many ways his administration can jump start the economy through taxation but regrettably, a lot of compromises have been made in the past with many of the foreign and indigenous companies which operate in the country indulge in tax evasion through the aid of some government officials who collect kickbacks to restrain them in paying taxes. This is a heinous crime against the State and a death penalty to any economy.

Some of the developed economies in the western world don't have 50% of Nigeria's natural resource but have a sustainable economy because citizens and business organisations were able to pay their taxes this in return assist the government to provide adequate and basic needs of the people. Nigeria is among few countries where citizens are being taxed by the government without provision of the basic amenities. The Republic of Ireland for instance is a good example of a country that is with virtually no natural resources but has a thriving economy through farming and good management of taxation. Ireland export about 80% of its dairy products and other agricultural produce to foreign countries. After the 2008 global economic recession, the country was able to restructure its economy with less dependent on property investment presently, it is the fastest growing economy in the European Union with its GDP to grow by 4.5 percent this year, the year 2015 was 6.9 percent growth.

The fall of the price of oil must be food for thought for both present and the future leaders of the country who would like to tread on the same path of economic perdition the past leaders have journeyed. The world is changing with new emerging technologies through which countries are enhancing their GDP growth. Crude oil is no longer the strongest weapon any country can use against others. For some time now the United States and Saudi Arabia are in some strained relationship despite the fact that the US is the Saudi's biggest oil trading partner but the US can source the product somewhere else if the two countries relationship no longer exists. However, the US is also among the largest oil producer in as much as its consumption is high. No country is indispensable!

At the moment, the President Buhari is having distractions on the issues of corruption and looted treasury he should concentrate and do the work he's being elected for. Energy should prioritize this is the hub of any economy. If power is stabilized it will attract investors both local and overseas to invest in the economy thereby, create job opportunities for college graduates and other and restive youth.

For the country to move forward the leaders must show accountability, transparency and prudence in their day to day running of the country contrary to this, the situation will continue to remain the same. Nigeria is yet to find its feet in administrative governance until the country leaders carve out new archetype of leadership with an endurable economic policy that will be compatible and well enshrined with our socio-political culture without it; the leaders will continue to see the nation's wealth as a national cake.

advertisement
IMAGES IN THE NEWS