RE: NIGERIA’S RISE TO
THE BOTTOM
I read with utmost
relish, your commentary on Toyin Dawodu’s analysis of Forbes interview with
Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala. FORBES actually poured much of accolades on the
supervisory minister in charge of the Nigerian
economy. The highly-educated woman is appreciated for the turn around of the
Nigerian economy. But what is the point in celebrating a national
economy’s sudden success
which obviously fails to reflect
on the lives of most of the citizenry?
Really and truly,
not fewer than
fifty percent of the Nigerian
population are indigent. Many are
angry and despondent because they
strive hard at work but earn
incomes which do not meet
their basic necessities of life. As
a result, many have concluded in their
minds that if the economy is
virile and vibrant, but the major
policy-makers fail to draw up
plans to realistically and
effectively look after the
teeming underprivileged members
of the public, then, the country
will find it hard
to be out of the woods.
We all know the
Forbes report was meant to
paint Nigeria in a
brilliant light, but concrete
efforts must be
geared towards total
economic emancipation and
deliberate repositioning of
the conscientiously-active amidst
the Nigerian populace,if that report
in itself would
not suffer the
unenviable destiny of being
confined to the
dustbin as an effort
in futility.
Reportedly,$ 9
billion was lost between 2011
and 2013 to
customs waivers alone for
instance. These funds, if taken
and properly appropriated, could have been channelled
towards social services and industrial re-engineering in
this nation. The painful
thing in all of these
is that the
beneficiaries of the waivers are
usually those Nigerians
who already swim
in multi-billion naira of
stolen wealth! ....Helping the
larcenists to safe-keep
their loot, you might
say. Again, those Nigerian
factories which moved to
neighbouring Ghana some
years ago, owing to
epileptic power supply,
are yet to
return. Would they
ever return?
Regrettably, a
large chunk of
the population individually
survives on $2 or less
a day in a Nigerian nation replete
with tales of
paradoxes. Many of our
citizens are today
disillusioned arising from
the nation’s precarious
socio-political landscape.
The insecurity levels
are quite alarming while corruption
seems to have
taken up permanent
residency amidst the
Nigerian crowd. Millions of adults
now function very
much below their
optimum capacity against
the backdrop of
issues of inequality
and gross violation
of rights sometimes.
The successes which
Nigeria has recorded
in the economy
ought to be
re-inforced in order
to make them
appear in credible
terms. We must
all wake up
from our slumber
in such a
manner as to
drive ourselves and nation
forward in all
positive ramifications. At the level
of morals, we must
also strive to conduct
ourselves not in
a manner capable
of depicting us
as a people
yet existing in
the stone age. Issues
emanating from our collective value system
in the past decades
have raised serious questions , which as a
mater of
fact, must be quickly addressed
scientifically, socio-economically
as well as
politically.
Adelowo Adeniyi,
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