By Ben Lawrence
President Muhammadu Buhari deserves millions of full-throated cheers for once taking the bull by the horns at our economic recovery war.
Though the ban on rice, dairy and poultry imports has come four years late, it is bearding the lion of economic irresponsibility in the den.
We should appreciate that the expired National Assembly of Bukola Saraki and Yakubu Dogara was a liquidator of everything good for Nigeria.
So, it would have been in vain for Buhari to have attempted to introduce such patriotic and economic structures he recently did on imports.
Besides, Buhari was surrounded by bankers, contractors and fake IMF agents in his first term; suffocated so much that he had no space for daring, dynamic measures, one still finds some near power.
Buhari only spent about two years actively on the job then because they wanted to terminate him; God is great.
Buhari would not have allowed the free fall in Naira value and the unwise increase of prices of petroleum products at the same time, which caused the trauma that enveloped the nation economically while he was sick.
Buhari took off from ground zero economically. The infrastructure built over 100years had been demolished by Olusegun Obasanjo and Atiku Abubakar.
The Organized Private Sector had moved shop to neighbouring countries and had sent millions of Nigerians out of employment before Buhari climbed the uneasy Aso Villa saddle.
Worse still, the states were looted by their governors as Obasanjo’s and Goodluck Jonathan’s ministers pillaged the nation’s till.
It is noteworthy that despite these handicaps Buhari succeeded in making Nigerians to feed themselves from the stuff of their farms.
And, he considerably rehabilitated our destroyed infrastructure, achieving what the People’s Democratic Party’s elements could not in 14 years.
So, he has projects like massive rail road construction, local food sufficiency and taming the spread of internal insurrection to cite to his credit.
It is easier to destroy than to rebuild. Buhari’s contract with Nigerians in his victory speech in 2015 must have raised the expectation of the people too high.
Unfortunately, he has not the good luck of Yakubu Gowon and Sani Abacha who ruled at periods when Nigeria had competent, tried and tested men like Obafemi Awolowo, Tony Enahoro, Aminu Kano, Olufemi Okunnu, Abel Y Eke, Ali Mungono and Wenike Briggs at his beck and call as it were in the regime of Gowon.
And the bureaucracy then was world-class as well also as it were in the tertiary institutions. Also, Buhari does not have a Tunde Idiagbon now.
Abacha enjoyed that store of manpower initially in his administration in the presence of Samuel Ogbemudia, Lateef Jakande, Bamanga Tukur, Abubakar Rimi, Adamu Cirona, Melford Okilo and others in his cabinet. He had Sam Aluko.
Nigeria lacks such men of thought and deeds in the political and economic spheres now.
All you hear from commentators and contributors to national discourse is “funding”. Even a so-called journalist talked of funds to investigate.
Why is there so much ignorance and un-intellectualism in Nigeria? The job of the reporter is to get the news and follow up as it develops.
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I have seen the inside of the best news organs in the world and I know that the “lingo” in the newsroom is “the news”. Blame the decay in Nigeria on the docile press.
One watches and sees no reporters in the horizon. At best, one finds reviews not news breaks in the journals and electronic media. This shows the sharp drop in professional excellence in about all the facets of Nigeria’s life today.
While you permit my diversion, let me plead that Buhari’s could not have performed any better in an administration in which a secretary to the government and a head of service are on trial.
Man creates wealth; wealth does not come of its own. Wealth comes from creativity, persistence and ability to manage assets. But wealth in Nigeria before Buhari was ravaging of the treasury.
Should Nigeria look to any other country to come to her rescue?
We did not accept that in 1967 nor in 1994. The time has come for us to be inward-looking. The time has come for mass mobilization of every Nigerian to help solve our problems by embracing self-denials of “boycottables”.
In fact, Mbonu Ojike’s boycott the “boycottables” should be our present clarion call. Only a collectivist approach, not the present individualistic steps, can facilitate our social and economic recovery.
Since the infamous and unlamented SAP, Nigerians have lost their thinking caps. What is “Trader Money”? That is below the standard of a village economic thinker.
It was what happened in India when one free-marketer derailed the progressive philosophy launched by Indira Ghandi to inflict on the people an economic pattern of individualism.
Indian farmers took loans and could not repay their debts. It spread. Thousands committed suicide. It was also true of its tradesmen’s plight.
In the collectivist climate of Indira Ghandi, co-operative societies throve. They were availed of technical skills in management by inspectors. They were strong because they bonded as in the ease of China and Vietnam.
It is regrettable that Buhari retained Godwin Emefiele as Governor of Central Bank. One thousand Aliko Dangotes cannot change the fortunes of Nigeria. Only the people in a committed crusade for progressive change can alter our present predicament.
Buhari should re-establish commodities boards. They played profitable roles in advancing food and cash crops production in the past. Olu Falae’s intervention in the stead took Nigeria back 50years.
We now need technical institutes and technology colleges to train manpower not only for middle level production purposes, but also for advanced operations in every aspect of our living.
Ahmadu Bello was a brilliant Barth socialist in his approach to modernizing the North. He introduced free education in 1953 when he was leader of government business. It predated the free primary of the West.
He had launched industrialization scheme in the North before he was assassinated. That region then had food canning, cotton ginnery, leather works and textile manufacturing.
Obafemi Awolowo was a democratic socialist and it reflected his social, political and economic development of the West.
Michael Okpara was a pragmatic socialist which showed in his agricultural and industrial stripes, still present.
Dennis Osadebay was a democratic socialist which speeded the frenetic take-off of the new region. Nnamdi Azikiwe was a Fabian socialist which made him wily and indecisive in taking positions.
Abubakar Tafawa Balewa was a 14-carat bourgeois. The centre could not grow as fast as the regions. Buhari should beware of bourgeois elements, especially bankers who laundered our surplus of 16years for the rats in power.
While banks declared profit from unearned wealth, our factories, farms lay desolate and tormented with imports of all sorts of goods, even toothpicks and serviettes. These IMF agents cannot be our shepherds.
Buhari should ban imports of electrical appliances, house wares, shoes, textiles and goods we erstwhile manufactured.
But there can’t be economic recovery without an industrial resurgence in a nation with about 200million people. The manufacturing sector must have a major part to play.
But with what looks like policy somersault in our energy sectors, electricity especially, the whole industrial approach is non-starter.
The power distribution companies are a disaster, Buhari must save us from this disaster by disbanding them. See the mess they made with selling pre-paid meters given to them free by government.
They milk the people with inflated bills. Buhari must act now to bring back sunshine to our economic life.
Fossil fuel remains a very vital part of global development despite the new religion known as “Clean Energy”. Clean energy cannot make plastic, grease, hydraulic oil and other derivatives from petroleum.
Even fertilizer benefits from petroleum While electric cars are novel and welcome, we still need more oil refineries.
In 1993, we were fighting smuggling out of our petroleum products. Today we are wasting money importing, losing manpower and derivatives from crude oil.
Buhari, please, end this financial scourge.
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