Opinion: What I could not tell the Minister at the The Future Awards Symposium in Ekiti

by Kingsley Iweka

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“By 2030, boys will become men, ideas will become industries; yet seeds not sown will not yield harvest.”

It is hard to convince the common Nigerian that we are a great nation, harder even to prove that we are headed for greatness. But does that mean we are not great, or not headed for greatness? Certainly not.

For three days I was in Ekiti State with several other ‘emerging leaders’ from across Nigeria for The Future Awards Symposium and I saw first-hand, the hope for a better nation ahead.

The Minister of Finance and Co-ordinator of the Economy, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala on the last day of the symposium asked anyone from the audience to come share their thoughts on a question she was asked. Cheta Nwanze was bold enough to take up her challenge. Sitting back where I was in the hall, this is what I would have said to the Minister of Finance:

Meeting the needs of Nigerians and investment in basic development goals are not luxuries to be easily dismissed or pushed aside while austerity programs stretch on into an indefinite and unknown future. Indeed, solving the peoples’ basic problems and establishing a momentum for transformation are the real solution.

Consider these policy options as a way of pursuing the path of adjustment with transformation;

  • Strengthen and diversify Nigeria’s production capacity;
  • Improve the level of people’s incomes and the pattern of its distribution;
  • Adjust the pattern of public expenditure to satisfy people’s essential needs;
  • Provide institutional support for adjustment with transformation.

Strengthen and Diversify Production Capacity: For Nigeria to develop, it has to use its strengths in natural resources to build up its weak industrial sector. The narrow range of goods and services that we presently produce, either for export or to meet local needs, has to be greatly expanded. To do this a number of policies become very important. For example, credit should be extended on favourable terms to enterprises that manufacture essential goods as well as to food production. We need to start carrying out processing of raw materials, agricultural and mineral, within Nigeria; this will earn more money overseas and local industrial capacity will be increased and diversified, and employment will also increase.

Improve the level of Income and its Pattern of Distribution: When an economy does not grow or goes into a recession, more people become unemployed, real wages decline and poverty increases. We need to encourage those policies that will increase the dynamism of the economy and increase incomes of the people. In this respect, resource mobilization and their efficient utilization is a necessary first step.

Decisive government action is needed to plug financial leakages, such as found in recurrent expenditures, payments for unnecessary imports or overpriced imports or under-priced exports, flight of capital to foreign banks by foreigners and Nigerians alike, government inefficiency, and untaxable profits made through criminal activity.

Because the people of Nigeria must be equipped to lead a new generation of development programs, and because human well-being is the central goal of economic development, it is recommended that at least 35 percent of total government spending be allocated to health, education and other vital social services. Cutbacks in spending achieved at the expense of investment in Nigeria’s human capital are unproductive in the long run.

Adjust the Pattern of Expenditure: Previously, for this sort of transformational adjustment, emphasis was put on the adoption of policies that would reduce expenditures of government and peoples to bring them to the level of incomes, such as cuts in expenditure on wages, elimination of subsidies on consumer goods and essential services and to government enterprises, reductions in the number of public employees, and other budgetary reduction. Normally, governments found it easier to slash expenditures of the “soft” sectors like education and health. The governments would also quite easily, if not readily, postpone expenditures on development projects.

I flatly refuse to accept this very narrow view of adjustment. It is possible and better to deal with well-studied government expenditure switching. Such switching can bring about significant changes in the delivery of services and effectiveness of government without increasing spending. For example, resources can be switched from the military to social services and development projects. In this way social services and development itself need not suffer.

Provide Institutional Support for Adjustment with Transformation: For all the above policies to work effectively there is need to support them with institutional arrangements. This could involve the setting up of new institutions in rural areas and strengthening old ones.

It is certainly not enough to have a Nigerian Alternative on paper. It must be put into action. This requires the active support and participation of the entire population and their grass-root organizations; the full dedication and commitment of the government as well as the support of the international community.

In the final analysis, it is the development of human resources that will determine the course and content of the transformation process. The creativity and imagination of the African people will be the real factor in what Nigeria will be able to achieve. Hard work, understanding of the issues, dedication to Nigerian cause and a clear vision of the people will also be essential. Therefore, it is necessary to focus on the development, mobilization and efficient utilization of one of Nigeria’s most abundant resources: its people.

There needs to be genuine participation of the people in rebuilding Nigeria’s political economy. This will require that decision-making is democratized at the national, local and grass-roots levels. People will have to ensure that their leaders are accountable to them and that genuine consultations take place at every stage of policy formulation, planning and implementation with local authorities, non-governmental organizations and village and neighbourhood associations.

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Op-ed pieces and contributions are the opinions of the writers only and do not represent the opinions of Y!/YNaija.

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