Madness as defined by one of the greatest intellectuals in
human history; is doing same thing over and over again yet expecting different
results. Sadly this has become the blueprint and legacy upon which the very
foundations of our institutions have been built upon. This piece is inspired by
the recent lecture delivered by one of the sons of the soil whose exploits as a
former governor of the CBN not only drew the ire of those who have built for
themselves an empire of ill gotten wealth on the throes of pain of a nation
which will eventually come to see the light and truth of his message in the
course of fulfilling his patriotic duties; 'The commonwealth of our beloved
country is being milked by an insignificant few at the expense of its growth
and development.
"The commonwealth of our beloved country is being milked by an insignificant few at the expense of its growth and development"
His admission about the state of the nation's finances would
not only later cost him his job, but he was also to be labeled as a 'Prophet of
Doom' as the then administration embarked on its trademark charade of
propaganda and mudslinging to ensure that all is swept under the carpet of
political melodrama. The truth is to be shrouded in mystery as long as the same
hand that grabs in the dark remains a part of the body that wears the crown.
Nigerians were once again pulled into the vortex of religious bigotry and
tribal sentiments with one camp accusing the other of trying to sabotage its
progress and once again the Kansas shuffle was played on us and eventually we
looked the other way like speculators enchanted by a magician's sleight of
hand.
The price of our complicity and failure to unite and to fight against the
syndicate that has continued to enslave and crush the dreams and potentials of
our great nation is evident in the current state of the continued depletion of
our foreign reserve, the record decline in the purchasing power of the naira,
record levels of unemployment, double digit inflation figures; all indicative
of the big R word; Ours is an economy in Recession.
Already there are misguided voices and some elements in the
media who have sadly surrendered themselves as tools being used to mislead
Nigerians that things got this worse because of the ineptitude of the present
government, they will want you believing that things would have been better off
if the previous government had remain in power. But what we have failed to realize
is that whatever positives or growth witnessed in that said era qualifies as a
future mortgage of which we are now paying hence the decline and systemic
failure of virtually all sectors. It was a consumption driven economy driven by
the excessive spending of hard earned revenue which would have been better used
as investment to boost manufacturing, production and stimulate employment.
The recent data released for the second quarter by the NBS
shows a growth negative of 2.06% and while economists have forecast a bounce
back in 2017, it is expedient to ask ourselves the question; How did we get
here? From an economy predicted to be growing at almost same pace as that of
China (now the second largest economy in the world) in the 19th century to an
economy that can barely pay its own workers not to mention financing its annual
budget as we now have to borrow to address deficits. I am not an economic
expert so I will not venture into the measures and controls that ought to be or
should have been implemented to arrest the steep decline, but i speak also as a
son of the soil who truly loves and cherish this great nation and strongly
believe that there is light for us at the end of the tunnel if we all can set
aside our differences and work towards really making this nation great. It is
time to finally get it right, these challenges couldn't have come at a better
time when we have a government willing to explore all viable options of
diversification.
These are trying and challenging times indeed, but what we
need more prophets of doom; individuals who are not afraid to stir the hornet's
nest by not telling us what we want to hear but the undiluted truth and
ensuring we take into full account the warnings of their epistles. Only then
can all the campaign against the institute of corruption and developmental
policies be made meaningful if the drain that was the bane of our growth is
eventually closed. Like they saying goes; the calm will come after the storm.
