By Dr. Abubakar Alkali
The current downturn in the price of oil
has led to an economic turmoil that has reverberated across the globe with
negative consequences for the living conditions of the people. It is also
noteworthy that the global economic downturn coupled with senseless attacks on
oil infrastructure in the Niger Delta and decades of relentless corruption have
conspired to bring Nigeria to recession.
Figures released by the Nigeria Bureau of Statistics
(NBS) showed that the country’s GDP fell by 2.06% in the second quarter of
2016. This is a follow up to a 0.4% in the first quarter of 2016. The 2
consecutive declines in the first and second quarters of 2016 mean that
Nigeria’s economy is now officially in recession. The current economic travails
facing our dear country are the aftermath and aggregate result of unscrupulous
corruption and official fraud perpetrated over several decades particularly
under the Jonathan administration. Indeed but for divine intervention which
brought President Muhammadu Buhari into power on a mission to rescue Nigeria,
our country could well have been history at this time.
Nigeria’s economic challenges have less to
do with the economic problems into which our country finds itself today but
more to do with how we handle it. Global economic recession is a problem in
itself by all definitions but it can be turned into the solution to Nigeria’s
economic challenges.
The solution encapsulated in the current
economic recession is the opportunity it provides for our great country to
tarry awhile, retool and restrategise a new path to economic development.
The path to economic recovery lies in
fashioning out a strategic and comprehensive economic plan that will exploit
the abundant natural resources spread all across Nigeria. However, in
fashioning out this economic marshal plan, Nigeria has to PRIORITISE on one
commodity (with another as a compliment).
Production is sine qua non to
resuscitation of our ailing national currency, the Naira and by extension,
sustainable economic development. The path to Nigeria’s economic recovery lies
in production to empower the real sector of the economy and kick start a new
boom in manufacturing and exports. This will strengthen the national currency –
the Naira- against other currencies, create jobs and spread economic opportunities
to all.
The key to Nigeria’s economic recovery
lies in AGRICULTURAL REVOLUTION with special focus and master plan on
mechanised RICE production on the first line call and COTTON production as a
compliment.
In this regard, it will be worthwhile to
invest the loot recovered so far in President Buhari’s genuine anti-corruption
drive into mechanised RICE and COTTON production. Building infrastructure is an
excellent initiative but the multiplier effect of mechanised rice production is
clearly more apparent.
It should be noted that the current
peasant rice farming will NOT drive the RICE REVOLUTION and translate to a
solid foundation towards Nigeria’s economic recovery. What will is a
comprehensive MECHANISED system of farming using modern equipment. To this end,
there is the need for the federal government to enter into a joint venture and
acquire the farms in form of a lease hold with the farmers towards maximum
utilisation of the farmlands through a comprehensive mechanised rice farming
programme.
The lease hold of the farms should be
entirely consensual and is necessary especially when juxtaposed with the fact
that the peasant farmers lack modern equipment and the technology to exploit
these farms to maximum capacity utilisation. The lease hold agreement between
the federal government and the farmers could include incentives such as offer
of 10% of rice produced in their farms including but not limited to payment of
rent to the farms by the government.
Under the proposed RICE REVOLUTION,
Nigeria can set a target to export rice in 3 years after satisfying domestic
consumption and demand. It is time to put a stop to importation and consumption
of Thailand rice.
For a successful implementation of the
rice revolution programme in Nigeria, there is the need for the government to
focus on the dams with potentials for irrigation and all year round rice
production. These dams include but not limited to, the Goronyo dam in Sokoto
state, the Bakolori dam in Zamfara state, the River Niger Valley in Kebbi state
a.k.a the rice farmers haven and the Hadejia-Nguru wetland in Jigawa state.
These 4 dams put together, have the potential to feed the whole of Africa with
rice and even exports beyond Africa.
It is imperative to create a RICE
REVOLUTION COMMISSION under the Presidency for the administration, monitoring
and evaluation of the programme. Instead of running a highly bloated and bogus
government, the size of government should be drastically reduced and wastages
plugged and invested into the Rice revolution to kick start the journey towards
economic development and prosperity for all Nigerians.
For a successful mechanised RICE
REVOLUTION, there is the need for the government to equip two agricultural
research institutes to drive this policy. These are the national agricultural
extension research liaison services (NAERLS) at the Ahmadu Bello University
(ABU) Zaria and the international institute for tropical agriculture (IITA)
Ibadan. These research institutes will serve as centres of excellence and
drivers for the needed technological framework for a successful implementation
of the rice revolution.
So much money is wasted through corruption
and official gangsterism such as the budget padding scandal involving senators
and members of the House of Representatives. How great it will be to plug these
wastages and invest in the real sector of the economy to create jobs for
Nigerian youths?
It beggars belief that Nigeria with all
its potentials for rice production cannot satisfy its local demand for rice and
is happy to import rice from Thailand while watching its dams lie fallow. For
over 50 years now, Nigeria has been importing rice from THAILAND. What a shame!
The rice revolution has the potential of a
multiplier effect as an export commodity to earn foreign exchange and
drastically bring down the exchange rate of the Naira against foreign
currencies. It can also ensure in food security in Nigeria as rice is a staple
food in nearly all homes in our dear country. It will also promote the creation
and sustenance of small and medium scale enterprises (SMEs) and other small
businesses to create millions of jobs for our teeming unemployed youths.
Small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and
other small businesses are the engine room of any economy as a result of their
potential to create jobs and spread opportunities amongst our youths. The
middle class is currently almost non-existent in Nigeria. It is either you are
extremely rich OR overwhelmed by uncommon poverty. There is NOTHING in between.
The SMEs will promote the resuscitation of the middle class in Nigeria.
To mitigate risk and serve as a compliment
to the rice revolution programme, the federal government should also create a
COTTON REVOLUTION programme. Mechanised cotton production will effectively
place Nigeria among the leading industrialised nations through the
resuscitation of our ailing textile factories and creation of new ones. The
COTTON REVOLUTION just like rice, has the potential to create millions of jobs
through the promotion of SMEs and small businesses.
There were cotton storage facilities in
Nigeria several decades ago such as the one in Mayanchi Zamfara state which
although still standing, looks every inch a dilapidated and forgotten structure
courtesy of the oil boom in the 70s. There were also the groundnut pyramids in
the North, the palm kernel oil extraction in Eastern Nigeria, the cocoa production
in the west. All these treasures were abandoned in a hurry when Nigeria
discovered oil. Now that oil is no longer fashionable and long gone as a
reliable resource, Nigeria has to go back to these traditional agricultural
treasures.
With all the fruits and veg that abound
within the Jos – Nassarawa – Abuja axis, Nigeria cannot raise a standard fruit
processing factory. We are happy to import five alive which we can produce and
export. With all the tomatoes that is produced in Northern Nigeria, our country
still imports tomato paste. That’s not the way to strengthen the Naira or build
an economy
Nigeria has no option today than to
redirect its economy away from oil and strategically towards agriculture. Even
the global economic super powers are moving away from oil and shifting towards
agriculture. The global trend now is towards renewable and nonconventional
sources of energy such as solar energy, hydrogen energy, wind energy, biomass,
ocean energy and nuclear energy. These green energy sources are environmentally
friendly and inexhaustible.
No country serious about economic
development will trust oil any longer. For once, oil is a finite commodity and
will certainly dry up at some point. Oil is energy of the past. Already oil
wells are drying up. Moreover, oil is an environmental pollutant through carbon
emission which causes global warming and climate change. The almighty
dependence on oil has led to two critical problems facing the world today:
Energy insecurity and environmental pollution.
Any country that opts to be cavalier and
stay out of the rat race towards the exit door away from oil and towards
renewable energy will in a few decades find itself lagging behind. Countries
are now investing heavily in research into nonoil sources of energy.
Nigeria has all that she needs to take its
rightful place in the comity of nations. Our country is hugely endowed with
both human and natural resources most of which lie fallow and generally
unexploited. The only missing link is the proper MANAGEMENT of these resources.
Based on the enormous resources that abound in Nigeria, it is fair to say that
no Nigerian has any business with poverty. But here we are today with a poverty
index of 86% and rising. This means out of every 10 Nigerians, 2 are poor and
cannot afford 3 square meals per day.
Another cog in the wheel of progress of
Nigeria is the clear division amongst its people. It is fair to say that
Nigeria is a hugely divided country and this unnecessary division has not fared
well for any of the tribes and ethnic groups. It has only served to retard our
progress. The Igbo looks at him/herself first as Igbo and reluctantly as a
Nigerian, same to the Hausa man, the Yoruba man and other ethnic groups. That
is NOT the way to build a prosperous nation.
We are all guilty of the unnecessary and
pervasive division that has only served to destroy our country. For us to move
forward as nation, we must think as NIGERIANS FIRST not as members of a
particular ethnic group.
For God’s sake, there is too much politics
in this country to the detriment of the economy. Almost everything is tied to
political office. To achieve genuine economic development, create jobs and
spread economic prosperity amongst its citizens, our dear country must play
down on politics and prioritise economic development.
Where is the wisdom in maintaining 109
senators and 360 members of the House of Representatives with no defined
contribution to national development and spending over N1.5 trillion annually
on their jumbo allowances while leaving their constituents in abject poverty?
The 439 members of the national assembly have no clear role in nation building
but consume 25% of the national budget.
How fair is that to the average Nigerian
currently living in abject poverty and fighting the battle of his life under
excruciating poverty and economic recession to feed his family even on 0-0-1,
pay his children’s school fees and face his landlord at the end of the month?
Nigeria is today the only unrecognised
global super power. Our country has all the potentials to be a world super
power but alas, we are still ranked a third world nation. The super power
status doesn’t just come as a gift. Nigeria has to earn it. We have to take our
chances to be recognised as a global super power. Our chances lie in the enormous
natural and human resources in our country, arable land, agriculture, solid
minerals, etc.
Let’s start with mechanised RICE
production and build on it.
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