By Kayode Ajulo
Without a doubt, there is an undeniable wisdom in the proverbial saying that doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result is the definition of madness. I want to believe that as a nation, we cannot continue to toe the quite familiar but unacceptable path of ethnic and religious sentiments. Today as Nigerians, we are at a risk of becoming liabilities to humanity when all we do as citizens or leaders is to view things using the lens of religion and ethnicity.
In the spirit of patriotism and national expediency, I have decided to couch a number of suggestions for the Muhammadu Buhari led administration for 2020 under these standpoints; Economic Development, Human Rights and Respect for the Rule of Law and lastly an All-Inclusive Government.
It is a fact that cannot be gainsaid or misconstrued that the term “sustainable economic growth and development” is one of the key indicators of good governance in a country and as such the right policies must be put in place to ensure this. To put it in another way, good governance is central to economic growth and development and the absence of the latter is symptomatic of the failure of government to deliver on the former.
Economic development is attainable through the provision of the right infrastructure and engaging all the variables in the market so as to attain the desired equilibrium. This is to be contrasted with economic growth which is simply accounted for by market outputs and a rise in GDP.
An enabling environment must be created by the government to ensure a steady development of the economy and this agrees with the reasoning of scholars that economic development has a direct relationship with the environment. This implies the provision of physical infrastructure, increased spending on health, education etc. which invariably stimulates economic growth. The consensus therefore is that economic development and economic growth are inseparable.
2019 has been a year of adjustment for Nigerians in terms of economic realities particularly in the aftermath of the closure of our borders which was an economic measure /policy to primarily curb the menace of smuggling and heavy dependence on foreign goods. It however came with a mixed impact for the economy because of the unexpected nature of the announcement.
In all sincerity, one would have thought that such economic decision of dire implications would not have been taken overnight without recourse to the concerned stakeholders in particular and the Nigerian people as a whole.
This is partly responsible for the public outcry that greeted the announcement, with market analysts arguing that the shock created negatively impacted the economy especially in the area of price inflation, notwithstanding increased local production. For instance, the price of a locally produced bag of rice has risen from 15000 to more than 20000.
It is therefore expedient that while the government is keen on boosting and increasing local production, it should also devise an interim means of ensuring price control even though economists may want to argue that what we are having now is the interplay of the forces of demand and supply.
Petrol which is another commonly smuggled commodity is a very important economic product that constitutes the major source of our foreign earnings and therefore efforts must be made to ensure that the country is not short-changed by the activities of smugglers who sneak out the subsidized product to neighbouring countries where it is sold for a much higher price to their gain and to the detriment of Nigeria which incur losses in terms of customs’ receipts and duties.
Still on the issue of border closure, I am not unaware that many have criticized the action as insensitive and untimely. However, I must admit that Nigeria would have been economically stronger if the bold measures currently undertaken by this administration had been considered and adopted by previous administrations.
A lot has also been said by our neighbours in West Africa, particularly about the possible breach of the ECOWAS protocol on the free movement of goods, services and people. As a lawyer, I have gone through the protocols which only border on goods produced by respective member states and not goods produced by non-member states and as such neighbouring countries will do well to comply with the ECOWAS protocols on transit of goods.
It is therefore imperative that this current administration use this period to aggressively pursue capacity building for local production of goods hitherto smuggled through our porous borders.
Another important area that should be brought into focus by this present administration is the diversification of the economy in order to achieve sustainable economic growth. The pressing demand of this new decade is a well-planned decentralization of the economy from the oil sector to other sectors of the economy such as agriculture, solid minerals. We should stop paying lip-service to the issue of diversification and start “walking the talk”.
The revenue potentials in the manufacturing, financial technology, banking and other viable sectors should be harnessed by this administration. There should also be an intentional transitioning from a heavy dependence on oil exports to non-oil exports. Exporters and prospective exporters of non-oil products such as groundnut, cocoa, yam, rubber, timber among others should be incentivized to enhance more participation in the economic development of the country.
The present infrastructural drive by this administration is expected to have an impact on its diversification plans and as such must be commended. A few deserve to be mentioned; the Second Niger Bridge, Lagos-Ibadan expressway and the Abuja- Kano highway. Tangible progress is also be made with respect to the rail projects scattered across the country. There is no better way to open up our economy to a lot of investments other than by creating the enabling environment which includes the provision of both basic and advanced amenities as well as the implementation and enactment of key policies and legislations respectively.
Human rights and the Rule of Law which possibly are two sides of the same coin have prominently featured as topics of interest in Nigeria.
There is no gainsaying the fact that the essence of protection of Nigerians (majority and minority alike) via the instrumentality of laws is to prevent one from taking advantage of the other either in terms of numbers or influence.
No doubt, there is the delicate issue of how to strike the balance between upholding the Rule of Law and National Security. In my humble but considered opinion, the rule of law is quite accommodative of National Security; the ultimate threat to National Security is the lack of respect for the rule of law.
The executive arm of government cannot be seen or fingered to be breaking the law in the name of upholding national security, the rule of law and National Security are not two mutually exclusive terms.
The government cannot continue to rely on the Obiter decision of the Supreme Court in the case of Asari Dokubo v. FRN, which is to the effect that when an individual interest conflicts with national interest, the national interest will naturally prevail.
I want to counsel that it is not within the purview of the executive arm of government to determine in each respective case whether there is a national interest to protect neither does it come within its domain to determine whether national security/interest supersedes individual interest.
By way of digression, I want to point out that disobedience to court orders is capable of diminishing the confidence of foreign investors in investing in the economy because of the fear that such investments may not be insulated by any known mechanism of the law which are unenforceable in case of a likely breach of agreement.
Of a fact, I am aware that most arbitration clauses contained in agreements with foreign businesses usually stipulates that the venue of arbitration in the event of a dispute should be overseas and not Nigeria.
I want to emphasize that good governance is not ensured by leaders alone but also built by the trust reposed in the leaders by the citizenry. Thus an inclusive government is based on accountability and trust in the institutions put in place for effective governance of the nation. A lot of negative incidents have transpired in recent times in our national development which could be attributed majorly to the wrong perception of the government coupled with a shallow, almost non-existent feedback mechanism.
- Ajulo, PhD is an Abuja-based attorney.
Leave a Reply