My Vision

I recall the immortal caution of the philosopher -"to thy self be true". Let me therefore, just start with a reminder about the oil sector. My recollection is that our early economy was based on private sector initiative and was private sector driven, before the government woke up to take over the commanding heights of the economy an obstacle course which has brought about a lot of distortion, disorientation and dislocation. I think it was in reaction to the injustice of apartheid that as a sovereign remedy, the President Obasanjo administration in the 1970's nationalized the British petroleum (BP). It may not be true to say that it was the government that developed the oil sector. The government has remained a partner. We may in retrospect in the sector. Privatization is key to national self-discovery, growth and development.

It is important that we make the government remain as a facilitator rather than a provider and concentrate on establishing an enabling environment for the development of solid minerals and every other sector. I agree that "it is where the body lies that eagles fly". The rush of foreign investors to Equatorial Guinea, Sao-Tome and Principe for oil prospecting and exploitation is because the policies are right, developmental strategies apt, even with unstable national political system, poor state of infrastructures, and a distressed economy; foreign investors are still falling over one another to take a bite of the cake in those countries. Why can't we do the same here? The reasons are obvious: - Insecurity, corruption and transaction costs among others.

On youth development and the development of the Nigerian Child, let me please say that, youth restiveness should be seen in the light of adult delinquencies, parental neglect and over indulgence. It looks like there is a collective conspiracy against our youths and women.

Our political, techno-economic and socio-legal infrastructure does not seem to include them for protection and defense. Today, many of our youths and women wake up with problems and no promise in sight, why must they not revolt against a system that excludes, deliberately incapacitated and dehumanizes them.

Think of the local governments, the million of Naira that go to them through the states in the name of federal allocation. In today's local government those who work are not paid, those who are paid have no work. What a travesty, what an irony. In my childhood among the elites were the local government workers from the D.Os to the Sanitarians, Road workers, Agric extension officers and Postal Agents. Scholarships were awarded on regular basis, Social Centers built, local government schools were in healthy competitions with missionary schools and cultural development was at its peak. I weep for Nigeria. Today, we lack an environment of linkages. I suspect we are fast becoming a dysfunctional nation, an incensed society with neither purpose, focus, direction nor sense of synergy.

I ardently hope that our great son and Nobel laureate Prof. Wole Soyinka's description of his time as a "lost generation" does not come true. For any injustices or neglect done to or of our youths and women have intergenerational implications and will impact negatively on this country. Today, 14 million children register each year for primary education, about 7 million of them finish their primary six and 3 million proceed to secondary schools out of which 1 million will take JAMB, among whom less than 200,000 find places in our universities and another 300,000 enter other tertiary Institutions. Have we imagined what happened to the millions that drop out in the way? Are they not Nigerians; Are they not entitled to protection and planning. Can't they benefit from tailor- made programmed and projects? There must be a convergence in our system of education and we must chart career paths for all products of the system. For how long will they be used and abused. We talk about banks and failed banks. We need some soul searching as to how much we have individually contributed to the collapse of all the schemes, both the agric development schemes and industrial development schemes. Our epithets are the failed banks, our distressed industrial sector. They represent our love for Nigeria.

I understand that we must relate GNP to interest rate. What is the relationship between the 50% interest rate (lending) and the 18% interests on fixed deposit with the national growth and development rate? Many of us have so much cash, that we today hold the banks to ransom, dictating the interest rate. For our virgin democracy to succeed there is a need for us to realize that business is for profit. With 50% interest rate, 10% dividend in shares and less than 3% return on investments, the private sector is destined to die from birth because of the above gearing. It is also important that we consider HEALTH, FOOD AND SHELTER AS BASIC HUMAN RIGHTS as their absence eroded human dignity.

Today, the wind of change is blowing across Nigeria and the people shiver with new hope. Unfortunately, the nation is confronted with a series of intractable problems which may not only imperil its prosperity but may also threaten is long-term survival. If we do not face the facts and do the right things right. It has also been agreed here that there are structural imbalances in the federating / constituent units that make up the Federation. This should be redressed with the creation of new state for balance and Equity. The issue of local Government will not arise for now, as there is consensus that the list should be expunged from any schedule of the constitution, while the zones become the basis of REVENUE ALLOCATION, otherwise demand for local Government should have also been Just and Fair.

We are a ready-made nation; it is high time we become tailor-made. We have banned second hand clothing and Tokunbos. Let us do the same with ideas. Necessity they say is the mother of invention. In summary some of our problems include:

(a) The deterioration of the moral fiber of the society, the breakdown of social cohesion, the dyspiritualisation of the people, the incidence of dysfunctional families and the growth of conflict potential. (b) The rapidly increasing discrepancies in economic capacity between the rich and the poor, large scale unemployment, mass poverty, disturbing rate of crime, high rate of school drop outs, alarming rate of labour turn over etc.

The way forward, let us Think NIGERIA, State the Nigeria Vision, Have a Nigeria Spirit and Have Faith in Nigeria, Highlight our statement of mission, Link the structure, system, strategy, style, skill and staff to the statement of mission, Allow for True Federalism and Fiscal Autonomy, Order for proper and accurate Head count, Fill the implementation gap, Erase the North-South Dichotomy, Move towards a one nation society / Redress all iniquities. Recreate hope, collapse boundaries, barriers and frontiers, Rebuild the family, Strengthen the community, Renew society, Empower the citizen, Ensure a skills and knowledge based country, Develop Science and Technology, Invest in Solar Energy, Create environment of linkages. Accelerate the Privatization and Deregulation process; following Due Diligence and guaranteeing wide spread share ownership geo-politically and within income groups.

Destroy the smash and grab ethics, Decentralize political power, Recognize the zonal structure, Maintain equality of zones, Rotate the presidency among the geo-political zones, Provide for the creation of more States. Dismantle the system that creates endless misery to countless people; remove prebendation / cronyism and renter culture, Guarantee peace, safety, stability, growth and development, Tackle the small numbers problem / bounded rationality, promote competition / implement fair trade laws, Protect the environment, Approve boundary adjustments, Focus on outcomes not inputs.