Honestly, I don’t know who advised the Buhari government to do cash transfer of the $320m/N98bn recovered Abacha loot to the 121 million Extreme Poor Nigerians. I don’t know how they planned to factually and empirically identify these very poor in the first instance. I also don’t know who advised them to initiate the Bank of Industry-driven N10, 000/$28 trade loan to micro businesses.
I do not know what influenced their decision and what research findings convinced them that such an “Udoji award” kind of cash dispensing can help reduce the extreme poverty level in Nigeria and help grow our economy. The more I try to understand the reasons, rationales, motives and underlying assumptions behind these cash transfers, the more I am perplexed and weep for Nigeria and Nigerians. The actions of our leaders, with every day that passes, seem to suggest that they do not even understand the root causes of the endemic, growing and viral poverty in the land and the solutions thereof. The problems of Nigeria are hydra-headed, but not insurmountable at all. It only requires selfless leadership, passion, creativity and collective sincerity at all levels and arms of governance to solve it. Solutions. What we require to eliminate poverty in Nigeria and build up our economy is not sharing stipend to the vulnerable and very poor amongst us. What we urgently need to do are to provide that needed constitutional and governance restructuring of this contraption, creative and sincere leadership, right policy and programme architecture, needed infrastructure, technology and secure environment that will boost and sustain honest enterprise and entrepreneurship.
Sincerely, Nigeria as governed today is like a poor Level 6 civil servant on a salary scale of N30, 000 per month, who gave birth to eight children. Every year, he will promise them of good life, good health and first class education at Harvard based on his current salary and hope of being promoted tomorrow. But within himself, he knows truly that based on his current salary and even if he is miraculously promoted to the level of a permanent secretary, he won’t be able to provide his kids with the lying promises he made to them. He will either quit that job or creatively undertake enterprises that can honestly help him to fulfil his promises or continue to lie to them every year.
Our leaders have continued to lie to us every four years without taking any creative steps to turn our fortunes around for good. We need to fix the huge infrastructure deficit across all the sectors. But to successfully do this, we must look beyond the fiscal trickles that flow from the crude oil sales. For us to look beyond the fiscal trickles that flow from the crude oil proceeds and sustainably diversify our economic base, we must restructure our constitutional and governance framework back to what we used to have between 1957 and 1966, that enabled us to unlock the various sectors that sustained our economy before the advent of the crude oil. Sectors that added great value to our GDP, which we have regrettably abandoned in pursuit of the crude oil curse. We have an integrated infrastructure development master plan that clearly shows that we need and require, unbridged, over $3tn/N915tn investments over the next 30 years to get going.
We can’t get these huge amounts through fiscal allocations. We cannot unlock the required investments and capital from other climes and sources if we don’t put in place the needed and appropriate constitutional, governance and institutional structures in place. The critical infrastructure that we require in Nigeria today are energy (power and refined products) and transport. To develop the key transport infrastructure –road, rail, maritime and air transport in order to unleash the huge potential hidden in Nigeria requires the total restructuring of the governance, institutional and administrative transmission mechanisms of this key sector. Let me break this down, starting with rail transport infrastructure. This includes the rail track networks, the coaches/freights, the stations and its administrations/regulations. They are critical to the transport infrastructure. This is so because of the large volume of passengers and cargoes that it can carry and its relative safety records. The United Kingdom with a land mass of 243,000 square kilometre has over 16,000 km rail network and thousands of passenger/freight coaches. Despite the top efficiency of the UK public sector, her rail system and services have long been privatised since 1993. Nigeria with a vast and larger land mass of 923,000 sq km requires at least 48,000 km of rail network criss-crossing the vast land mass of the country. Currently, we have only existing 3,021km obsolete narrow gauge line network. An epileptic rail system and governance framework that is still being run under the anachronistic and retrogressive Nigeria Railway Act of 1955. The big question is, how best do we build up our rail infrastructure and network to at least 12,000km in the next five to eight years? This will require about $38bn-$42bn/N12.8tn. Under what structural and funding arrangement outside the fiscal allocation can this be made possible when we have limited funds currently going into the Federation Account annually?
The Federal Government, by the reason of the Land Use Act, does not own an inch of any land in Nigeria. The land belongs to the states and the governors’ consent is required to create and have right of ways over this vast land mass. If this is so, why does the Federal Government still continue to cling unto sectors like road, works, rail etc. that they could have easily devolved to the states as we had it before 1966? Devolution of control (resources and administration) of these key sectors to the constituent units (states) under a true federal structure will help to enhance synergy, cooperation and healthy development competition in the country. What the Federal Government would have concentrated on doing is to provide the needed constitutional, regulatory and legislative framework that will drive the whole process. Then, amend the 1955 Railway Act to accommodate a private sector-driven scheme that can unlock the needed non-fiscal investments in that sector. The key rail routes in Nigeria include: 1.The Lagos-Ibadan-Ilorin-Minna-Abuja-Kaduna-Kano axis; 1,435km (187 Abuja-Kano leg has been done). The balance, 1,248km, will require around $4.99bn/N1.8tn to fix. 2. The Lagos- Sagamu-Ijebu Ode-Ore-Benin-Asaba-Onitsha-Owerri-Port Harcourt axis; 718km, it will require about $2.8bn/N1.03tn. 3.The Abuja-Lafia-Makurdi-Nsukka-Enugu-Okigwe-Aba-Port Harcourt; 766.2km, will require $3.06bn/N1.103tn. 4.The Maiduguri- Biu-Jalingo-Afikpo-Abakiliki-Isukwuato-Umuahia-Itu-Uyo; 1214km, will require about $4.9bn/N1.75tn. 5.Kaduna-Jabi-Zaria-Funtua-Gusau-Talata Mafara-Sokoto; 468km, will require about $1.9bn/N673bn.
The above are just key routes that are very lucrative and can easily be linked through a private sector-driven rail network and infrastructure scheme that will unlock huge non-fiscal investment capital that does not put any burden on the Federal Government’s balance sheet.
Consequently, the following key reform steps are necessary.
.Amend the 1955 Railway Act to accommodate the required private sector-driven reforms in line with what is obtainable in other sane climes, like the UK, the UAE, Singapore, South Africa etc. The modified UK model will best suit us.
.Create the institutional, regulatory, governance and participating bid template that allows the global key players across the rail value chain and network to drive the process, take over routes they want to develop and control based on their robust feasibilities studies. States or constituent units are allowed to participate in the private sector-driven Special Purpose Investment Vehicles that the private sector led investors might put in place to drive the process.
Rail network services, coaches and freight services, stations and ancillaries services etc. are value chains and segment of the services that can be unbundled and made to work efficiently across the identified routes.
We can reform and rebuild Nigeria. But we need to do the right things, the right way, engaging the right people to do the right jobs.
Dr. Obiaraeri, FICA, a financial expert, wrote in Lagos
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