To constantly see the larger picture of the nation-state, far above our selfish inclinations; to always seek and proffer lasting solutions to seemingly intractable socio-economic and political woes bedeviling the country-these are the hallmarks of a true patriot. And they are few. But good enough Mr,Henry Boyo ,an erudite economist is one of them. My first encounter with this distinguished Nigerian was in June 2009, privileged to be a member of the vibrant Editorial Board of Independent Newspapers, INL Nig.Ltd. His compelling and deep insight into the intricate issue of the nation’s economy and the uncommon passion with which he spoke always held everyone present spellbound. More importantly, he gave analytical yet simple answers to what many thought were confounding. To him, many of the nation’s economic challenges are self-inflicted and can therefore, be solved with the application of standard and established models. Indeed, listening to him, I wished I was an economist! May be; just maybe that explains why one is finding it exceedingly difficult to explain to the good people of Nigeria why our economic eggheads boast of robust macro- economic indices at a time virtually all international agencies on economic growth posit that Nigeria still posts some of the lowest Human Development Index. Talk about high infant and maternal mortality, low access to quality primary health care delivery, millions of school-aged children out of school and the increasing difficulty towards meeting the MDG 1 by halving the poverty rate by 2015. Let me confess that he may feel shocked that I am doing this behind his back. But one is compelled to write this piece because, as earlier stated we must look at Nigeria far above our whims and caprices. Talk is cheap; anyone can criticize government’s policies and performance but the bottom line lies with pragmatic solutions rather than undue and self- motivated mudslinging. Worthy of note, is that even years after, his proffered solutions appear to be the best way out of the wood. Fortunately, he has been consistent and conscientious in canvassing them. ‘Consistency’, or ‘stick-to-itiveness’ as Benjamin Disreaeli and Albert Einstein rightly noted respectively, is a sign of success in any endeavour. Precisely, he has been worried about the Federal Government’s penchant of paying dollar-derived revenue to the states in naira at an exchange rate solely determined by the apex bank. The other querulous issue is the recurring ugly decimal of surplus cash in the system which the Central Bank mops up, hoards and disburses to the other banks triggering a spiraling inflation rate. That explains why the commercial banks are not lending to the real sector. Then, there is the avaricious appetite; on the part of both the federal and state governments to seek for foreign loans at abnormally high interest rates. The combined effects of these injurious policies include high interest rates charged by commercial banks, unafforadable to local entrepreneurs; the comatose state of the manufacturing industry leading of course, to unjustifiably high unemployment rate in the country. The other resultant effects are the escalating wave of crimes and criminality characterized by spates of armed robbery, kidnappings and outright crude oil theft all of which have turned Nigeria into the killing fields. But we cannot tread this odious path for far too long. Not anymore! In his words: “A diversified economy cannot evolve without a liberal access to cheap funds to the real sector, at rates not exceeding five to six per cent”. Furthermore, he argues that the naira exchange rate must become stronger, so that the critical imported raw material costs will inversely become cheaper.”Unfortunately those who should are not listening. Now, every street corner in Lagos metropolis as well as other major cities has been turned into a junk yard for all manner of second hand clothes and electronics materials imported from Europe, parts of Asia including China, our new- found friend. On the issue of substitution of naira sums as replacement for monthly allocations of dollar-derived revenue, he explains that “this creates the constant burden of surplus cash.In addition, “to the conscious manipulation of the balance of demand and supply of the naira in favour of the dollar, in the forex market.” Yet, there is the persisting problem and paradox of our weakening naira in spite of increasing reserves. In response to the people proposing naira re-denomination as a panacea to our economic challenges, he stated thus: “The advantages of redenomination may however, be short-lived, if the abiding economic instigators of inflation are not adequately tackled.”He gave the example of Ghana where the cedi was redenominated by four decimal points about five years ago but the average annual inflation rate of 15 per cent has remained.” On the vexed and inexplicable issue of this administration’s borrowing spree, your s truly had on January 2,2013 in this same column questioned Nigeria’s debilitating debt profile. As stated :“This scenario is more worrisome in the face of dilapidated infrastructure, annual budget deficits, fragile healthcare system and a drastic dip in the standard of education across the country.” On his part, Boyo had stated ( Euro and China loans: A nation in folly? Daily Independent , July 17, 2013) that: “Consequently, the frenzied drive to expand our external debt must be worrisome to Nigerians when the national reserves currently canvassed an over $50bn, each returns below the cost Nigeria pays for its external and domestic borrowings!” Dear Mr. President, in all this, it is patently obvious that the solutions to our long- running economic problems may lie beyond your economic team. Listen to others, please.
Posted on: Fri, 16 Aug 2013 20:17:36 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015