• The government sector and the public services are today seen as the quickest channel to become billionaires overnight. And that is why almost every Nigerian elite wants to be in the government of the day, in pursuit of political power.
• The developed nations are willing to lend Nigeria loans. The more loans the Nigerian government borrows, the more the country is impoverished. The more loans they borrow, the more we are saying Nigeria future generation will be born in debts. With such records and culture of borrowing, basically to address recurrent expenditures, one begins to wonder how Nigeria will come out of the woods in the years to come.
• I am one of the notable agitators of the Nigerian huge debt profile back then, as I consistently wrote the IMF and World Bank to write off the Nigerian debts because none of the military administration could adequately explain to Nigerians exactly what they used the borrowed funds for. My arguments were that the western developed countries were encouraging the then military rulers to loot our money and open foreign bank accounts in their bank vaults to keep these loots. While on the other hand they were still demanding the debts repayments, ………
• One would have expected before now the Nigeria government at all levels, to have drastically cut down on their recurrent and administrative expenditures, which are causing more damage on the Nigerian economy.
Have you ever wondered why is it that many of the people who are rich today in Nigeria are the ones in power? It is simply because we do not understand what political power (Government) and the Public Services are all about. Rather than being a place of ‘Service’, the government sector and the Public Service are today seen as the quickest channel to become billionaires overnight. And that is why almost every Nigerian elite wants to be in Government, in pursuit of political power. What we do not realize is that it is the pursuit of, and the focus of power – that is what is consuming the wealth of the nation. Whereas, in advanced developed countries, the situation is different.
This fact was reiterated in a short video online, where the content creator, in trying to explain this through his “Economics 123,” noted that: “…. And all of a sudden you see, many of the people who are in power are the ones that become rich and wealthy because the power is consuming the wealth. But it is supposed to be KNOWLEDGE-BASED ECONOMY that should drive the country’s economy. Go to Democratic Republic (DR) of Congo, and you’ll see the mansion of Mobutu Siseko, former President, and you’ll get to understand that WEALTH IS NOT THE ANSWER. KNOWLEDGE IS THE ANSWER.
“What Africa is doing is, instead of looking for relevant knowledge and by virtue of that, we will become more powerful and ultimately wealthy. That was what Kwame Nkrumah of Ghana was preaching; that WHEN WE ARE POWERFUL AS A RESULT OF THE RELEVANT KNOWLEDGE WE HAVE; WEALTH WILL BE AUTOMATED. But we don’t want to go through that. What we are doing today, in this continent (especially in Nigeria), is, WE ARE LOOKING FOR WEALTH STRAIGHT AWAY. Everywhere we go, we are looking for money. And the developed countries are very willing to lend Nigeria LOANS. THE MORE LOANS NIGERIA BORROWS, THE MORE NIGERIA IS IMPOVERISHED. The more loans Nigeria collects, the more we are saying our future generation will be born in debts.
“As I am standing, I have not gone for any loan, but by virtue of the debt of my country; I am a debtor. By virtue of the debt of my country, I am owing. And the amount is not going down any time soon. It is rising every day. What it means is that my children will owe more than me, and my grandchildren will come and be in more debts than me. And the distance, the gap between the poor African countries and the rich countries in the west, will continue to widen because we don’t want to go through this same principle – economic 123, GET THE RELEVANT KNOWLEDGE, AND BY VIRTUE OF THAT YOU’LL BECOME MORE POWERFUL, AND WHEN YOU’RE POWERFUL YOU’LL GET WEALTH. We have started only looking for wealth. And what is even sad, you’ll go to church, or any religious program, and the fact that you’re very rich; you’re very respected, you’re glorified. Nobody cares about the source of the wealth.
“Now, this wealth, if it is not based on knowledge, the power will consume it. WEALTH WITHOUT KNOWLEDGE IS NOT SUSTAINABLE. Africa, rise and walk on your legs and not on your heads. LET’S STOP BORROWING, AND LET’S CREATE THAT INNOVATION THROUGH THE SEARCH FOR THE RELEVANT KNOWLEDGE, AND WE CAN BE POWERFUL, AND AT THE END OF THE DAY, WEALTH WILL COME, AND I AM SURE OF THIS IN THE NEXT TEN TO TWENTY YEARS. The west will be coming back to Africa for loans. And that is when we would have said that we have found the right way to go. APART FROM THAT, WE WILL CONTINUE TO BORROW, AND WHEN WE BORROW, WE SPEND, AND WHEN WE SPEND, WE IMPOVERISH FUTURE GENERATIONS, AND THE POVERTY BECOMES A CIRCLE. It is so cyclical and sickening. Break it, Zambia; break it, Ghana; break it, Nigeria; break it, South-Africa; break it, Egypt – break this circle of poverty and let’s stop going for loans.”
The basic thing that makes all the difference between African countries like Nigeria and the rest of the developed world, is the lack of ‘understanding’, on the part of African nations, of how things ought to work for the benefit of all. THIS IS THE BASIC REASON WHY MOST AFRICAN LEADERS, ESPECIALLY THOSE IN NIGERIA, ONLY THINK OF TODAY AND WHAT THEY WILL GAIN FROM THE SYSTEM, WITHOUT REGARDS TO THE RIPPLE EFFECTS OF THE ACTIONS TODAY AGAINST TOMORROW AND THE FAR FUTURE. Just this year, Nigeria increased the amount it is allowed to borrow as a proportion of gross domestic product to 40% from 25% as part of a new debt-management strategy approved by President Buhari-led cabinet. The higher limit will enable borrowing to fund the budget deficit and other government obligations, including promissory notes issued to settle arrears, as well as lending from the central bank, the Debt Management Office said in a statement on its website.
With such records and culture of borrowing, basically to address recurrent expenditures, one begins to wonder how Nigeria will come out of the woods in the years to come? The West African nation’s public debt is projected to increase to 34% of GDP in 2020 from 29% in 2019 and will rise to about 36.4% in the medium term, according to the International Monetary Fund’s latest report on the country. Interest payments as a proportion of revenues for the national government, estimated at 92.6% in 2020, is projected to decline to 60.8% this year before rising to 94.1% of revenue by 2025, according to the IMF.
I recently saw a video of former Central Bank Governor, Prof. Charles Soludo’s arrival at a social event in Awka, Anambra State, and I was amazed at the way he was received massively and enthusiastically by the people, as they noted that they are behind “this great global icon and illustrious son of Anambra State.” Who wouldn’t be proud of Soludo as a man, who played a significant role in the “NIGERIA DEBT CANCELLATION, which became a reality under former President Olusegun Obasanjo era? Soludo then was one of the brains behind the setting up of Nigeria’s debt cancellation office. He is indeed a great intellectual and pride of Nigeria. I know the role he played back then during the advocacy for debt cancellation for Nigeria.
I am one of the notable agitators of the Nigerian huge debt profile back then, as I consistently wrote the IMF and World Bank to write off the Nigerian debts because none of the military government could adequately explain to Nigerians then, exactly what they used the borrowed monies for. My arguments were that the western developed countries were encouraging the Nigerian military rulers to loot our money and open foreign bank accounts in their bank vaults to keep these loots. While on the other hand they were still demanding the debts repayments, which we all know they collaborated with the then military leaders to loot, by giving them access to export the loots to their foreign banks. This prompted Obasanjo, after being elected in 1999, to set up a Debt Management Office (DMO). I actually attended the international debt management conferences with others like Mrs. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Prof. Charles Soludo and the rest, including finance debt management experts, Representatives of IMF/World Bank, United Nations, Commonwealth, etc. And I was an active participant in the first Nigerian international conference for debt cancellation.
Today, all of that struggles have been rendered useless with more debts being accumulated by the Federal Government that came after the tenure of Obasanjo, who was able to have Nigerian foreign debts written off. It would be recalled also that some years back, Nigeria was compelled by pressure, from International creditors, particularly the London and Paris club, to ‘voluntarily’ part with almost $12.4bn allegedly owed, so that another $18bn debt could be written off, from the country’s total external debt of about $30bn.
With all of this, I am afraid, and even more troubled about the country’s future because as we speak, the Nigerian Government at all levels, have still not done anything on their part to address the increase debt profile of the country. rather, they have been making it worse. One would have expected that before now, the Nigerian Government at all levels would have drastically cut down on their recurrent and administrative expenditures, which are costing more damages on the Nigerian economy. Without a doubt, the Nigerian Government, both Federal and States; are killing the country with its binge and unrestrained borrowing and we seriously fear what adverse impact this would have on future generations.
As posited above, the situation in Nigeria is simply because we have developed a culture of going after wealth and power, with little or no investment and focus of relevant knowledge that would steer-up the needed innovation and industrial growth for wealth to come in. And because we are not ready to make the needed sacrifice and go through the hard work, the poverty level and hardship amongst the populace has continued to increase. Until this unhealthy narrative is changed, we may never see the desired development and change we all seek for the country.
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