Good luck Nigeria: “On Wednesday, Nigeria’s federal government unveiled a bold new initiative aimed at establishing an operating model and framework for Economic and Financial Inclusion. This project is part of a larger vision to transform Nigeria into a $1 trillion economy by 2030, focusing on combating poverty and driving sustainable economic growth from the grassroots level.”
As the leaders run the playbooks, let me add these components in whatever they plan to do. Yes, these are catalysts which I think will bring that $1T economy. Without them, no initiatives will have a chance. Let’s go….
Merit-based system – no nation has advanced better than its ability to inspire, motivate and reward via merit. Without a nationally transparent merit-based system, Nigeria cannot progress. Yes, the $1trillion will fade.
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Pragmatic Innovation – focus on what works, over the purity of scoring political goals. The implication is that we have to seek and execute the best ideas irrespective of where they may be coming. Yes, we must allow data to work and follow the best ideas. Can we spread the deep seaports to Calabar, Ibom, etc instead of building more in congested Lagos?
Honest Leadership – the citizens are smarter and can only take cues from their leaders. People willingly pay taxes when taxes work in their lives, they say. If we preach one thing and do another thing, you lose the citizens. Na kwa echeki!
Integrate Rural and Urban Nigeria – we need to have a functioning postal service, to bridge the huge gap between rural and urban Nigeria.
Put Rural Wealth in Nigeria’s Balance Sheet /Property Rights – those lands (subject to the land use act), houses, etc should be digitized and recorded so that even those in rural Nigeria can enter the formal economy. It is unfortunate that a man with 100 hectares is considered poor because he has no papers to share with banks, to access credits to train his kids and support his family. Simply, Nigeria must advance its property rights governance, not just in land and physical properties but also intellectual properties.
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There is nothing ambitious about what they said they are doing, it’s even too mediocre to qualify as average. What is ambitious about yammering on financial inclusion, from which productive base exactly? This joke needs to end right there.
If we are looking for something with semblance of being ambitious for the next decade. Here is it:
Build a Deep Seaport in Akwa Ibom, the state sits in between Rivers and Cross River, with Abia State north of it. With that, you create a major Economic Corridor in the Eastern side of Nigeria. On the Western side, Lagos-Ogun-Oyo will have a similar outlook. Now use railway to connect both the Eastern Corridor and Western Corridor to the Northern Nigeria. This can be completed within a decade. That is how you open an economy up for great undertakings. You are never going to achieve a $1 trillion economy with Lagos as the only functional seaport, it’s a serious joke.
While at it, streamline government participation in economic sectors, from Energy to Education to Healthcare, the trio can be private sector driven, for their true potential to emerge. The pseudo socialism currently in practice has massive limitations, you are never going to have the financial capital to fund things. THINK!