AS NIGERIA CONTINUES TO WALLOW IN HUGE FINANCIAL TROUBLE – WHAT REALLY ARE THE GOVERNMENTS AT ALL LEVELS DOING TO CHANGE THE NARRATIVE?
April 15, 2021 | News
I am sure many of us has seen the short video being circulated online, of the Edo State Governor, Godwin Obaseki, making some serious sense while explaining the dire and severe financial crises Nigeria has continued to be swallowed because of the way our past and present leaders have been running the country with their skewed and unproductive leadership style.
AS NIGERIA CONTINUES TO WALLOW IN HUGE FINANCIAL TROUBLE – WHAT REALLY ARE THE GOVERNMENTS AT ALL LEVELS DOING TO CHANGE THE NARRATIVE?
I am sure many of us has seen the short video being circulated online, of the Edo State Governor, Godwin Obaseki, making some serious sense while explaining the dire and severe financial crises Nigeria has continued to be swallowed because of the way our past and present leaders have been running the country with their skewed and unproductive leadership style. All of which have continued to make things get worse by the day, instead of getting better. This is primarily because, as a country, we have allowed the discovery of crude oil and natural gas, and the huge money it brought, to make our political leaders at all levels of Government practically lazy, and not wanting to think on innovative ways to internally create wealth for the people. Even with the enormous oil wealth, our political leaders have over the years, been running governments that are wasteful, rather than using the oil wealth to develop other sectors to boost and sustain the entire economy of the country. They have also maintained a culture of external borrowing to ‘sustain their waste.’ This has left us with a country that is seriously in debt, and the majority of its people regarded as the poorest in the world.
According to Governor Obaseki: “Because of crude oil, we always believe that there will always be money. So, we run a very strange economy and strange Presidential system where people; the local government, the State governments, the Federal government, at the end of every month, they go and earn salary. We are the only country in the world that does that. Everywhere else, the Governments rely on the people to produce tax, and it is the taxes they use to run the local government, State governments and the Federation. But the way we ran Nigeria, and subsequently the politics, up till now; is that it doesn’t matter. The country can go on holiday. The country could go and sleep, and at the end of the month, we all just go to Abuja and we collect money, and we come back, and we spend. My brothers, sisters, I am an economist, and an investment banker; we are in trouble, financial trouble!
“Firstly, what we use to rely on -crude oil, forget what you are seeing now at 70 or 60 Dollars per barrel- it is only a mirage. Its just a question of time because the major oil companies: Shell, Chevron, who are the ones producing, they are no longer investing as much in oil. Chevron is now one of the world’s largest investors in Alternative fuel/Energy. Shell is pulling out of Nigeria. So, in another year or so, where will we find this money that we go to Abuja to share every month? Last month, we got Federal Allocation for March, the Federal Government printed additional 50 to 60 billion. Remove subsidy, they say no. This April next week again, we will go to Abuja, we will share. By the end of this year, our total borrowing, its going to be in excess of 15 to 16 Trillion. And my worry is that, we will wake up one day, like Argentina, the Naira will be 1000, 2000, it will be moving up… You can imagine a family. You don’t have money coming in, but you are just borrowing and borrowing. Without any means or idea of how to pay back. And nobody is looking at that.
"Everybody is blaming Mr. President as if he’s a magician. So, that change in the world economy, is going to be one of the major factors that will affect our politics going forward, whether we like it or not. And therefore, we must understand that… Yes, Nigeria will not disappear, Nigeria will not disintegrate because 50 to 60 percent of the people who live in Nigeria today, do not know any other way outside Nigeria. So, Nigeria is not going to break up. Forget it! There might be a lot of crises…But, if we are not careful, if we do not manage the economy and the politics right, all of us in this room will be consumed. Am not talking about 10 years. Am talking about 2 to 3 years from now. And what is doing it right? It is going back to the basis. There is a Social Contract between the Government and the Governed – you go in, you lead us as leaders. And you provide sustenance for us, so that we can feed our families, house our families, and clothe our families, and do the things God has given us the energy to do. For you leaders, we’ll give you respect, we will obey you…there will be peace. But it looks like we the leaders, have broken that Social contract. If the people are suffering so much, they will take out the frustration on the Government…”
Agreed that the Edo State Governor, Godwin Obaseki has said the harsh realities that have brought the country to its present deplorable state, but the question is that, is Obaseki not also part of the problem within the problem? Is he not amongst the present crop of political leaders that have continued to sustain this culture of waste in the public space, without any innovation to turn things around? What stops Obaseki for instance, from heavily investing in Edo State, especially in none-oil sectors, and turn his state to a modern place like Dubia? What stops him from building modern infrastructure just as we see in Dubai, Kuwait and other parts of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) that used their oil wealth to drastically transform their economies and the living standards of their people?
As we speak, Obaseki is wasting State resources in hosting a national sports festival, which he is using the State’s scarce resources to fund in paying for all the bills. And then tomorrow, he will be the complaining/weeping governor. Olusegun Obasanjo wasted millions of dollars back then to host FESTAC ’77 in Lagos. What has Nigeria gained from it? Since Nigeria hosted FESTAC, which other country has done it again?
Obaseki, like other State Governors, should not always come out to say one thing that will make headlines, but they still end up doing something else and maintaining the statuesque, which only favours more of the political class to the detriment of the masses. They cannot complain about the debt profile yet they have continued to borrow more. And what exactly have they been doing with all the money being borrowed?
The Federal Government cannot continue to spoon feed the State Governors with Federal allocations, yet we expect them to develop their States. How is that going to happen? The Federal Government cannot continue to print additional money for the States to share every month. Not only is that unsustainable, it adversely affects the value chain of the Naira. How do they expect to pay off Nigeria’s huge debt, which this present Buhari-led Federal Government has increased since they came in? So, all that talk and publicity stunts, to get sympathy as a crying governor who supposedly means well for his people, will not deceive the majority of the people because many now know better?
Like other State Governors across the country, Obaseki, as the Governor of Edo State, is the sole leader and Chief Administrator of Edo State with all the Executive powers to manage and build up his State to a modern place like Dubai and Qatar. Those who built and developed places like Dubai, which is the world’s destination for luxurious tourism and commercial business enterprise in Real Estate and what have you, are not ghosts. But are human beings who have a radical mindset to drastically and prudently use every dime of their oil wealth, to transform other sectors of the economy for a sustainable future. Dubai is today the world’s largest construction site. Dubai’s growth is faster than any other city in the world.
Mind you, before 1960 Dubai was nothing…. But oil was found in Dubai and its destiny was changed. BUT DUBAI DOESN’T RELY ON OIL MONEY NOW. IN FACT, DUBAI’S CURRENT EARNING FROM OIL IS LESS THAN 5% OF ITS GDP. DUBAI HAS BECOME THE TRADING HUB FOR THE WORLD. ONLY 15% OF DUBAI’S POPULATION ARE ARABS. THE 85% POPULATION OF DUBAI ARE FOREIGNERS WORKING IN THE COUNTRY. But in Nigeria, the situation has been a different ball game.
Listening to Obaseki, one begins to wonder who he was complaining to? He should not be telling us things that we already know, rather, he should be telling us what and what he has done, and still doing to change the narrative. And this also applies to all the Executive Governments across the country – from the local government level to the States and the Federal levels. Nigerians want to see them take actions and steps that would suggest they actually understand the plight of the masses, and they are doing something about it. And not coming out to tell this and that. It is indeed painful that we have jesters/comics as Governors and lawmakers in Nigeria. Sometimes I wonder, do they have human conscience at all?
The bitter truth is that, a country like Nigeria with vast natural resources and human capital, cannot continue on its current destructive path and hope that things will automatically change overnight. That is nothing but wishful thinking and day dreaming. Our political leaders need to be more ‘deliberate’ and vision-driven to change the narrative and improve the living standards of the people.
Zik Gbemre.
April 15, 2021
We Mobilize Others To Fight For Individual Causes As If Those Were Our Causes
I am sure many of us has seen the short video being circulated online, of the Edo State Governor, Godwin Obaseki, making some serious sense while explaining the dire and severe financial crises Nigeria has continued to be swallowed because of the way our past and present leaders have been running the country with their skewed and unproductive leadership style. All of which have continued to make things get worse by the day, instead of getting better. This is primarily because, as a country, we have allowed the discovery of crude oil and natural gas, and the huge money it brought, to make our political leaders at all levels of Government practically lazy, and not wanting to think on innovative ways to internally create wealth for the people. Even with the enormous oil wealth, our political leaders have over the years, been running governments that are wasteful, rather than using the oil wealth to develop other sectors to boost and sustain the entire economy of the country. They have also maintained a culture of external borrowing to ‘sustain their waste.’ This has left us with a country that is seriously in debt, and the majority of its people regarded as the poorest in the world.
According to Governor Obaseki: “Because of crude oil, we always believe that there will always be money. So, we run a very strange economy and strange Presidential system where people; the local government, the State governments, the Federal government, at the end of every month, they go and earn salary. We are the only country in the world that does that. Everywhere else, the Governments rely on the people to produce tax, and it is the taxes they use to run the local government, State governments and the Federation. But the way we ran Nigeria, and subsequently the politics, up till now; is that it doesn’t matter. The country can go on holiday. The country could go and sleep, and at the end of the month, we all just go to Abuja and we collect money, and we come back, and we spend. My brothers, sisters, I am an economist, and an investment banker; we are in trouble, financial trouble!
“Firstly, what we use to rely on -crude oil, forget what you are seeing now at 70 or 60 Dollars per barrel- it is only a mirage. Its just a question of time because the major oil companies: Shell, Chevron, who are the ones producing, they are no longer investing as much in oil. Chevron is now one of the world’s largest investors in Alternative fuel/Energy. Shell is pulling out of Nigeria. So, in another year or so, where will we find this money that we go to Abuja to share every month? Last month, we got Federal Allocation for March, the Federal Government printed additional 50 to 60 billion. Remove subsidy, they say no. This April next week again, we will go to Abuja, we will share. By the end of this year, our total borrowing, its going to be in excess of 15 to 16 Trillion. And my worry is that, we will wake up one day, like Argentina, the Naira will be 1000, 2000, it will be moving up… You can imagine a family. You don’t have money coming in, but you are just borrowing and borrowing. Without any means or idea of how to pay back. And nobody is looking at that.
"Everybody is blaming Mr. President as if he’s a magician. So, that change in the world economy, is going to be one of the major factors that will affect our politics going forward, whether we like it or not. And therefore, we must understand that… Yes, Nigeria will not disappear, Nigeria will not disintegrate because 50 to 60 percent of the people who live in Nigeria today, do not know any other way outside Nigeria. So, Nigeria is not going to break up. Forget it! There might be a lot of crises…But, if we are not careful, if we do not manage the economy and the politics right, all of us in this room will be consumed. Am not talking about 10 years. Am talking about 2 to 3 years from now. And what is doing it right? It is going back to the basis. There is a Social Contract between the Government and the Governed – you go in, you lead us as leaders. And you provide sustenance for us, so that we can feed our families, house our families, and clothe our families, and do the things God has given us the energy to do. For you leaders, we’ll give you respect, we will obey you…there will be peace. But it looks like we the leaders, have broken that Social contract. If the people are suffering so much, they will take out the frustration on the Government…”
Agreed that the Edo State Governor, Godwin Obaseki has said the harsh realities that have brought the country to its present deplorable state, but the question is that, is Obaseki not also part of the problem within the problem? Is he not amongst the present crop of political leaders that have continued to sustain this culture of waste in the public space, without any innovation to turn things around? What stops Obaseki for instance, from heavily investing in Edo State, especially in none-oil sectors, and turn his state to a modern place like Dubia? What stops him from building modern infrastructure just as we see in Dubai, Kuwait and other parts of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) that used their oil wealth to drastically transform their economies and the living standards of their people?
As we speak, Obaseki is wasting State resources in hosting a national sports festival, which he is using the State’s scarce resources to fund in paying for all the bills. And then tomorrow, he will be the complaining/weeping governor. Olusegun Obasanjo wasted millions of dollars back then to host FESTAC ’77 in Lagos. What has Nigeria gained from it? Since Nigeria hosted FESTAC, which other country has done it again?
Obaseki, like other State Governors, should not always come out to say one thing that will make headlines, but they still end up doing something else and maintaining the statuesque, which only favours more of the political class to the detriment of the masses. They cannot complain about the debt profile yet they have continued to borrow more. And what exactly have they been doing with all the money being borrowed?
The Federal Government cannot continue to spoon feed the State Governors with Federal allocations, yet we expect them to develop their States. How is that going to happen? The Federal Government cannot continue to print additional money for the States to share every month. Not only is that unsustainable, it adversely affects the value chain of the Naira. How do they expect to pay off Nigeria’s huge debt, which this present Buhari-led Federal Government has increased since they came in? So, all that talk and publicity stunts, to get sympathy as a crying governor who supposedly means well for his people, will not deceive the majority of the people because many now know better?
Like other State Governors across the country, Obaseki, as the Governor of Edo State, is the sole leader and Chief Administrator of Edo State with all the Executive powers to manage and build up his State to a modern place like Dubai and Qatar. Those who built and developed places like Dubai, which is the world’s destination for luxurious tourism and commercial business enterprise in Real Estate and what have you, are not ghosts. But are human beings who have a radical mindset to drastically and prudently use every dime of their oil wealth, to transform other sectors of the economy for a sustainable future. Dubai is today the world’s largest construction site. Dubai’s growth is faster than any other city in the world.
Mind you, before 1960 Dubai was nothing…. But oil was found in Dubai and its destiny was changed. BUT DUBAI DOESN’T RELY ON OIL MONEY NOW. IN FACT, DUBAI’S CURRENT EARNING FROM OIL IS LESS THAN 5% OF ITS GDP. DUBAI HAS BECOME THE TRADING HUB FOR THE WORLD. ONLY 15% OF DUBAI’S POPULATION ARE ARABS. THE 85% POPULATION OF DUBAI ARE FOREIGNERS WORKING IN THE COUNTRY. But in Nigeria, the situation has been a different ball game.
Listening to Obaseki, one begins to wonder who he was complaining to? He should not be telling us things that we already know, rather, he should be telling us what and what he has done, and still doing to change the narrative. And this also applies to all the Executive Governments across the country – from the local government level to the States and the Federal levels. Nigerians want to see them take actions and steps that would suggest they actually understand the plight of the masses, and they are doing something about it. And not coming out to tell this and that. It is indeed painful that we have jesters/comics as Governors and lawmakers in Nigeria. Sometimes I wonder, do they have human conscience at all?
The bitter truth is that, a country like Nigeria with vast natural resources and human capital, cannot continue on its current destructive path and hope that things will automatically change overnight. That is nothing but wishful thinking and day dreaming. Our political leaders need to be more ‘deliberate’ and vision-driven to change the narrative and improve the living standards of the people.
Zik Gbemre.
April 15, 2021
We Mobilize Others To Fight For Individual Causes As If Those Were Our Causes