Also published in DAILY TRUST
While on the other hand, China, which claims to be the champion of communist ideology in the world, has been recording phenomenal rates of economic boom particularly over the past few decades, thanks to her creativity in maintaining her communist ideology while in the meantime opening up to other policies that though contradict communist ideology in theory but serve her better in reality anyway. Other ambitious countries also e.g. India, Brazil, Turkey etc do the same and are indeed reaping the benefits bountifully.
By the way, such pragmatism in approach had predictably led to conflicts of interests amongst various countries, which warranted the formulation and ratification of various regional and global business regulatory regimes e.g. World Trade Organization WTO, with a view to creating grounds for “fair” deals for all.
Therefore, without essentially homemade economic management policies, I am afraid Nigeria may never get it right, simply because she adopts a system not designed for an environment like hers, and not meant to address economic challenges as hers.
Notwithstanding
the merits or demerits of the capitalist-oriented economic system adopted by
Nigeria, I wonder how it (or indeed any other mainstream economic policies)
could address the country’s peculiar economic challenges.
How I wish
Nigeria’s economic policy formulators and handlers could employ their much
celebrated brilliance to creatively draw an appropriate economic policy;
realistic and flexible enough to not only drastically reduce corrupt practices
but to actually prevent more looting of the nation’s resources.
This is necessary because after all, the principal handlers of the economy are internationally recognized “experts”, with one of them parading himself as a thinker seeking to impress the gullible with his “brilliance” and “eloquence”.
Having obviously addicted the disrepute of corruption and incompetence to the extent that they no longer find it abusive, it is becoming increasingly clear that Nigerian ruling elite particularly the self-acclaimed thinkers amongst them are actually too dull in reality to develop appropriate alternative economic management policies equal to Nigeria’s peculiar challenges.
Their parrot-like rhetoric and literal reference to the so-called internationally recommended economic recovery and management policies render them hardly if at all better than bloody laymen in economic and financial management. Because they don’t seem to realize that, today no successful country in the world formulates its economic policies strictly on the bases of its officially adopted economic ideology.
It is not uncommon for instance to hear an otherwise brilliant Nigerian economist justifying any miscalculated borrowings by simply claiming that the major world economies are all heavily indebted much more than the other countries. He may cite the misleading fact the US, which despite having the largest economy in the world today is the most indebted country in the world also.
Incidentally, functional and ambitious countries borrow in order to fund economically sustainable projects that will provide viable economic opportunities, which will create wealth in reality, hence finds it easy to pay off the loan within a reasonable period of time.
But in Nigeria loans are recklessly collected under various pretexts including funding of recurrent expenditure, and yet looted with little or actually nothing to show. Moreover, the intricate process of financing the loans and the shady deals surrounding the execution of the projects for which the loans are collected, represent more avenues for plundering more resources, leading one to not only wonder where on earth are the projects supposedly funded by the loan, but actually when the complete repayment will be done, if it will ever be?
Furthermore, despite the eight billion dollars which the federal government says it would save through the unpopular removal of oil subsidy for instance, a quarter of 2012 budget will still be funded with loans from both external and internal sources as confirmed by the government itself. In reality it would be well over that percentage if we consider other proposed borrowings under various pretexts of fancy but in reality painful economic and financial terminologies.
This is in addition to other proposed miscellaneous borrowings e.g. the N600 billion loan to finance (not necessarily pay off) the so-called matured loans. Equally, states and even local governments also would go on the same largely miscalculated borrowing spree.
In essence, most of our thinkers and economists seem to be too dull to realize the distinctive peculiarities of the causes of Nigeria’s economic mess, yet they approach it with the theories they had imbibed hook, line, and sinker, hence fail only to repeat the same process over again.
This is even though some of the solutions are too obvious to require any painstaking analysis to find. For instance, every year Nigeria losses much more than eight billion dollars to corrupt officials, who are not only known in the society but are actually honoured. So even if the government can’t compel them to surrender what they have plundered, why can't she block at least a few holes on the already riddled nation's purse in order to save that amount?
Elsewhere however, every successful country opens up to whatever measures and policies likely to serve her better notwithstanding their ideological sources. This explains why for instance while the relatively new concept of Islamic banking is growing phenomenally even in Europe and elsewhere, many Nigerian otherwise educated elite are too myopic that they still suspect an Islamic agenda behind it.
Also, the US for instance, which is considered the guardian of global capitalism today, is not that literal towards its own capitalist principles, instead she opens up to other policies, which though theoretically contradict capitalism but in reality serve her better.
This is necessary because after all, the principal handlers of the economy are internationally recognized “experts”, with one of them parading himself as a thinker seeking to impress the gullible with his “brilliance” and “eloquence”.
Having obviously addicted the disrepute of corruption and incompetence to the extent that they no longer find it abusive, it is becoming increasingly clear that Nigerian ruling elite particularly the self-acclaimed thinkers amongst them are actually too dull in reality to develop appropriate alternative economic management policies equal to Nigeria’s peculiar challenges.
Their parrot-like rhetoric and literal reference to the so-called internationally recommended economic recovery and management policies render them hardly if at all better than bloody laymen in economic and financial management. Because they don’t seem to realize that, today no successful country in the world formulates its economic policies strictly on the bases of its officially adopted economic ideology.
It is not uncommon for instance to hear an otherwise brilliant Nigerian economist justifying any miscalculated borrowings by simply claiming that the major world economies are all heavily indebted much more than the other countries. He may cite the misleading fact the US, which despite having the largest economy in the world today is the most indebted country in the world also.
Incidentally, functional and ambitious countries borrow in order to fund economically sustainable projects that will provide viable economic opportunities, which will create wealth in reality, hence finds it easy to pay off the loan within a reasonable period of time.
But in Nigeria loans are recklessly collected under various pretexts including funding of recurrent expenditure, and yet looted with little or actually nothing to show. Moreover, the intricate process of financing the loans and the shady deals surrounding the execution of the projects for which the loans are collected, represent more avenues for plundering more resources, leading one to not only wonder where on earth are the projects supposedly funded by the loan, but actually when the complete repayment will be done, if it will ever be?
Furthermore, despite the eight billion dollars which the federal government says it would save through the unpopular removal of oil subsidy for instance, a quarter of 2012 budget will still be funded with loans from both external and internal sources as confirmed by the government itself. In reality it would be well over that percentage if we consider other proposed borrowings under various pretexts of fancy but in reality painful economic and financial terminologies.
This is in addition to other proposed miscellaneous borrowings e.g. the N600 billion loan to finance (not necessarily pay off) the so-called matured loans. Equally, states and even local governments also would go on the same largely miscalculated borrowing spree.
In essence, most of our thinkers and economists seem to be too dull to realize the distinctive peculiarities of the causes of Nigeria’s economic mess, yet they approach it with the theories they had imbibed hook, line, and sinker, hence fail only to repeat the same process over again.
This is even though some of the solutions are too obvious to require any painstaking analysis to find. For instance, every year Nigeria losses much more than eight billion dollars to corrupt officials, who are not only known in the society but are actually honoured. So even if the government can’t compel them to surrender what they have plundered, why can't she block at least a few holes on the already riddled nation's purse in order to save that amount?
Elsewhere however, every successful country opens up to whatever measures and policies likely to serve her better notwithstanding their ideological sources. This explains why for instance while the relatively new concept of Islamic banking is growing phenomenally even in Europe and elsewhere, many Nigerian otherwise educated elite are too myopic that they still suspect an Islamic agenda behind it.
Also, the US for instance, which is considered the guardian of global capitalism today, is not that literal towards its own capitalist principles, instead she opens up to other policies, which though theoretically contradict capitalism but in reality serve her better.
While on the other hand, China, which claims to be the champion of communist ideology in the world, has been recording phenomenal rates of economic boom particularly over the past few decades, thanks to her creativity in maintaining her communist ideology while in the meantime opening up to other policies that though contradict communist ideology in theory but serve her better in reality anyway. Other ambitious countries also e.g. India, Brazil, Turkey etc do the same and are indeed reaping the benefits bountifully.
By the way, such pragmatism in approach had predictably led to conflicts of interests amongst various countries, which warranted the formulation and ratification of various regional and global business regulatory regimes e.g. World Trade Organization WTO, with a view to creating grounds for “fair” deals for all.
Therefore, without essentially homemade economic management policies, I am afraid Nigeria may never get it right, simply because she adopts a system not designed for an environment like hers, and not meant to address economic challenges as hers.
Nigeria’s economic
policy formulators and handlers need to go back to the drawing board and
brainstorm not on the policy implementations mechanisms but rather on the
merits of the very economic theories and principles adopted in the country.
Nigerians expect them to practically justify their voluminous résumés, which
they are fond of citing at any given opportunity to impress their audience.
Failure to do so
however will definitely confirm the suspicion that Nigerians are too unlucky
that they are being led by the dull, who simply confuse brilliance with the
ability to speak a foreign language or repeat some abstract theories; some of
which hardly if at all have any practical value.
Moreover, in addition to the imperative of intellectual creativity, it also takes creative competence, political will and moral integrity, to draw appropriate economic policy and follow it through in the modern world’s intricately interdependent economic and financial systems.
By the way, when I qualify competence with creativity as above, I simply acknowledge the conventional competence of many of our economic and financial policymakers, having risen through their respective careers to high positions, however, I equally allude to their lack of creative competence to enable them to think outside the box and operate accordingly.
Moreover, in addition to the imperative of intellectual creativity, it also takes creative competence, political will and moral integrity, to draw appropriate economic policy and follow it through in the modern world’s intricately interdependent economic and financial systems.
By the way, when I qualify competence with creativity as above, I simply acknowledge the conventional competence of many of our economic and financial policymakers, having risen through their respective careers to high positions, however, I equally allude to their lack of creative competence to enable them to think outside the box and operate accordingly.
No comments:
Post a Comment