Africapitalism, Governance & Sustainability

DO YOU REMEMBER THAT EACH time you attempt a comparative analysis between Nigeria and the advanced countries of the world such as the USA, Germany, UK, France...

DO YOU REMEMBER THAT EACH time you attempt a comparative analysis between Nigeria and the advanced countries of the world such as the USA, Germany, UK, France, etc misguided pundits and mischief-makers dismiss you as being duplicitous? They quickly remind you that Nigeria got her independence only recently in 1960 and was a mere colony of one of these countries! If you are not careful, you could be branded a traitor on a journey to undermine the good works of the government in power! Before you know it, there will be cold silence in the land. But what the pundits forget easily (and they need to be quickly reminded) is that many countries who attained independence after Nigeria are now in the league of wellfunctioning societies.

But we can’t go on like this. Let us then change the narrative and comparison. Let us not even compare apple with apple. This time, I will like to compare a David with a Goliath. Obviously, Nigeria in this narrative is the Goliath, a title that is clearly in contention in Africa! Do not say I told you.

Let me take you to the homeland of this David- Rwanda, a small African country which experienced mass genocide against the Tutsi tribe in 1994, that killed about 1 million people in a 100-day period and examine how the Goliath fares. Maybe the latter would look good this time around.

I embarked on this excursion after watching recently a presentation by one of the greatest icons of our times – Peter Obi, the former executive governor of Anambra state. This colossus of no mean status dazzled the audience so much at The Platform Nigeria 2019 event where he reeled out statistics about the sordid state of our beloved country.

I could not help joining Alan Paton to scream “Cry, The Beloved Country”. He spoke for over forty (40) minutes without looking at any outline. I was held spell-bound like many other Nigerians. God bless this great Nigerian of our times.

I choose not to digress by asking: where are our academic professors in the Ivory Towers? All I can recollect these days is that each time some of them are presented with opportunity to speak, you would easily discover that the information being reeled out are products of obsolete theories that have been condemned to the dustbin of history, signifying nothing. These are the signs of falling and failing educational standards that should keep a discerning mind worried.

Let us get back to our own Obi and leave the issue of the Professors for another day. I choose not to be digressed, distinguished Ladies and Gentlemen

Our Obi who was the Vice – Presidential Candidate of the PDP in the 2019 General Elections may have lost the battle but he clearly has won the war. Let us be frank, at least for once! The erudite speaker was able to reel out mind-boggling statistics without electronic or paper support that kept many wondering if we are a cursed fragile nation. He told us, though, not to loose hope; that there is hope at the end of the tunnel. And I agree with him absolutely.

I will digress no more; back to the David versus Goliath narrative.

A study by Michael Newell published by the World Finance Journal on March 21, 2019 shows that the following are the top fastest growing economies in Africa (Nigeria is not one of them).

Clearly oil is not a key driver of economic growth. The key drivers from the study are:

• FDI flows

• Infrastructural development

• Manufacturing expansion

• Exports (not oil)

• Political stability/security

• Tourism

• Financialization

• Currecy devaluation

Our focus in this narrative is Rwanda which got her independence on 1 July, 1962 with a population of 11 million people which is about the size of Maryland (USA) and has 4.2 million children half of them living as orphans with about 27,000 living with HIV/AIDS as a result of the 1994 genocide in which women were raped deliberately by men carrying HIV/ AIDS. We shall use Table 2 below to compare both countries.

Take a cursory look at Table 2 above and try to draw out your own conclusion. Would you say it is sickening? Or would you say that this is an absurd narrative that tries to compare a David with a Goliath? Would you rather say that the roaring Rwanda is the David and Nigeria the Goliath? Let us put all of these aside while reminding ourselves that there is nothing wrong in comparing the little man (genius) – Lionel Messi with the giants in the soccer world.

Let me be clear: nothing here is intended to paint Nigeria in wrong colors. Far from it. The objective is to sound a wake-up call for Nigeria to do things differently in order to get better results. A more fundamental objective is to commend the roaring Rwanda for achieving these stellar results in a rather short time after the genocide.

Which of the indices struck you? Innovation index, ease of doing business, corruption index, index of economic freedom, global peace index ? etc. You are right because if these are right, GDP growth would move northwards naturally.

Let me be more clear: Nigeria must move away from ‘potential’ characterization to ‘kinecticism’ The future of any country lies in its capacity to leverage knowledge, skills, innovation, creativity and attitude. Several things have to be trashed: ethnocentrism, religious bigotry, paternalism, polarization of all shades that have continued to tear us apart.

Fast developing nations won’t wait for anyone. Innovate, reinvent or perish.

Finally, let me congratulate Rwanda for what it has been able to achieve over these past few years. This David would not kill the Goliath. It would only spur it to rise up and take its rightful position in the comity of functioning nations.

YES, NIGERIA CAN BE GREAT AGAIN!!!

Dr. Abolo holds a Ph.D degree in Economics and his currently, the Director General, The Economic Thinktank Centre Limited and GMD/CEO, The Risk Management Academy Limited.