Adekoya Boladale – Nigeria’s economy: Awakening the snoring giant
On
January 28th, 2016 Channels Television aired a community programme
where a man in Benin, Edo State with little education and has never left
the shores of Nigeria was able to build an operational unmanned aerial
vehicle (UAV), commonly known as drone, without any special training
using everyday tools and parts within his environment. This is just one
in the tones of unsung stories of innovations and creativity Nigerians
have been producing for decades. While these talents go to waste, we
spend billions of dollars yearly procuring the same innovations produced
by foreign firms.
A friend said to me over the weekend “If Mark
Zuckerberg were a Nigerian and he created Facebook in a garage somewhere
in Lagos or Ogun state, the innovation would not pass the four walls of
his house.” And he is right; Nigerians would still not have used
‘Whatsapp’ if it was developed by a Nigerian, we prefer ‘Uber’ to ‘Easy
Taxi’ ‘Amazon’ to ‘Konga’, unfortunately for us, days such as these are
over.
Nigeria is dying and it is only a matter of months before our
economy collapse, saying we are in austere times is merely playing it
mildly, when a country of over 160 million people produce nothing but
depend on the production of other countries to meet daily needs, it does
not only portray such country as unserious and lazy but also as
incapable of self-sufficiency and independence.
The narrative of
‘Nigerians should embrace made in Nigeria products’ is a cliché that
will never work. It is high time government at all levels declare a
state of emergency on importation. Nigerians should not be persuaded to
buy made in Nigeria products, Nigerians should be forced to buy made in
Nigeria products. We are way passed seeking for patriotism, what we
should be seeking for now is survival.
There is no other way out of this, it is either we patronize local products or Nigeria dies.
The
recent Central Bank of Nigeria’s list of banned items is a right step
in the right direction but rather too little. Our condition requires a
radical approach and as such, the list deserves expansion to all
imported goods, products and services with exception to raw materials,
machinery and industrial equipment.
The days of medical tourism
should stop. Yes, our hospitals may not be one of the best in world but
they are not doing badly either. The unnecessarily gallivanting of
Nigerians abroad for medical checkups makes mockery of our status. This
is not to say banks should not make forex available for specialized
operations or severe medical conditions, those are different ball game
entirely. But if you live in Nigeria, eat our local foods, breath our
air and cannot trust any of the A-list hospitals with ordinary medical
checkups then you have over stayed your welcome, please relocate.
I
think it is time we ban importation of mobile phones, computers, cars,
electronics and related gadgets. If truly Nigeria is a huge market for
Toyota, Samsung, Tecno, LG and likes, then it is high time they invest
in our economy; it is high time we have Samsung Nigeria, Toyota Nigeria,
Tecno Nigeria and co. International brands and companies must move
beyond opening sales outlets in Nigeria or signing sales contract with
Nigerian companies, they must start building manufacturing –not mere
assembling- plants in Nigeria. We can no longer continue wasting our
hard-earned money (apologies to looters) to improve foreign economy
while ours wreck. You want to sell to Nigerians? Come to Nigeria!
The
importance of our Technical colleges cannot be overemphasized.
Government must draw up a workable template for Nigeria industrial
revolution. Our country has a huge volume of an untapped innovative
brains wasting away in banking halls and government parastatals as a
result of desperation to make ends meet. Our Polytechnics and Technical
Colleges should not be a face saving haven for people who could not get
admission into universities but an institution where innovative and
creative minds are trained and pushed to take over the world. Nigeria
needs to model the frame works of Polytechnics and Technical Colleges
into something more sophisticated than the Massachusetts Institute of
Technology (MIT).
It is time for a Nigeria identity, brands
forged in the fires of Ladipo, Aba, Nnewi, Owode-Onirin, Agbara. We need
brands that will compete side by side with the Louis Vuitton, Adidas,
Nike and others. All these can only be possible when we develop our
local talents, train, motivate and encourage the dreams and madness of
our countrymen and women; for it is out of madness that the greatest
innovations in the world are made.
But all these will be useless
if government policies do not encourage such. The federal government
must create an enabling environment for investors to come into the
country. The days of unnecessary bureaucracy and bottleneck approach it
is known for must come to an end. While it is important that every
investor pay a premium for certification before commencing business
operations, it won’t cost us anything to overlook such fees in exchange
for a more beneficial future. Lands and tax waivers are also essential
to encourage companies investing in an unknown terrain all for the
greater good.
Finally, we will be wasting our time talking about
economy, the survival of Nigeria and development of local productions if
we do not have a sensible and well implementable Labour law. Currently,
Nigeria has one of the cheapest labour in the world. While we may want
to run a capitalist economy it should not interpret to erasing common
sense and natural justice.
The corporate slavery re-christened
‘contract staff’ should be looked into as a matter of urgency. There is
nothing cool in being a slave in one’s country all in the pursuit of
happiness. Most acclaimed employed Nigerians today are contract staff
earning way less than the effort and energy they put in to work.
The
National Assembly must enact a labour law that represents and protect
Nigerian workers first before any other. Companies must be made to sign
an undertaking to not only ensure that 80% of their workforces are
Nigerians but also draw up a training blueprint that will enable
Nigerians possess the right skills to take over from expatriates in the
next three to five years.
Boladale is on twitter @adekoyabee
http://dailypost.ng/2016/02/15/adekoya-boladale-nigerias-economy-awakening-the-snoring-giant/
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