Continued from Thursday
Many of the state governments have not paid N18,000 per month minimum wage of the previous administrations and have vowed not to pay N30,000 which is the present. Yet, the politicians pay perpetual humongous pensions to those who have served for four to eight years. Economies where people are not well paid cannot grow because consumption would be low, implying that demand for products will be low with resultant effect on quantity to produce. If production is low, employment generation will equally be low. Low production also implies high cost of production per unit. So, it is a chain reaction. When the World Bank and its allies tell us that our tax revenue is low, we try to impose more taxes on the people instead of improving peoples’ income which is the source or basis for taxation and make taxes collection to be more efficient. If low wages and salaries are meant to perpetuate poverty and subject people to whims and caprices of the politicians, it will backfire in the way the #EndSARS turned into and the country will be the worse for it.
This is the time to review our spending, to cut our coat according to the size of our cloths, to remove economic profligacy; cut down on borrowing which gives the impression that there is money and thus encourage stealing; pay the legislature according to the ruling minimum wage like public servants, cancel all pension emoluments for ex-political office holders, sell public assets that are no longer making profitable returns, privatise some public enterprises, plug corruption in public enterprises, particularly in the NNPC and promote domestic production and consumption to reduce imports. Instead of pursing loans that will eventually pull us down, we should be pursuing how to increase our income from the resources that we have. How can we allow foreigners to be prospecting oil for us after 60 years of oil prospecting in Nigeria? These people do not come to Nigeria with their engineers but technical knowhow plus machines and use Nigerian engineers to go into the sea to prospect for the crude oil. Let us invest in our universities of technology and the petroleum institute to develop the equipment for the use of our engineers to prospect oil. Who are those who developed modular petroleum equipment or even the crude machines being used in the Niger Delta area?
Why after 60 years and with universities of agriculture, Nigeria still depends on traditional agriculture production technique? Who said our engineers cannot produce mechanised equipment for us if they are well-funded? It is fallacy to think that Nigerians cannot produce equipment to generate electricity for domestic and industrial use. Why must we keep laws that prevent decentralisation of electricity generation/distribution instead of allowing Nigerian electricity experts within and in the Diaspora to invest in the sector and give us power? Give Nigerians electricity 24/7 and see the economic transformation. It is also part of corruption to be looking for experts abroad to develop our iron and steel industry which we have been doing for over 30 years. We have had reports of young scientists in secondary schools competing globally on scientific innovations and winning laurels. Where are those youths today? Foreign countries give them scholarship into their institutions and retain them after graduation. All the innovations demonstrated by Nigerian polytechnics and universities at the heat of the COVID-19 have gone to rest. There will not be further investments to develop and commercialise them but we will soon be importing the same products produced by other countries while they will come to purchase the franchise of our inventions.
Reports from ASUU demonstration of its salary software tagged UTAS indicate that the government officials and legislators present were surprised at the quality of the product. The Nigerian government prefers to borrow money to invest in Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System software prepared abroad by those who do not understand our system. The need to justify the loan invested with attendant kickback made those involved to insist that the system must be used. Nigerian universities produce medical doctors that are sought after by many aging advanced economies who know they are theoretically sound but need just little practical training to become real experts. If we finance research, the country will be able to turn around our resources to generate income and in the process generate global recognition.
The period of this coronavirus pandemic and #EndSARS should be seen as a peaceful revolution to end corruption and unnecessary borrowing but move towards domestic income and employment generation. The time to believe in ourselves and promote our products instead of looking towards foreigners is now. Let’s give the Black race hope. This period gives us the opportunity to promote rational and realistic budgeting, present long term economic blue print i.e. a 40 to 50-Year National and State Plans for ordered independent economic development and change our sordid way for decent living with transparency and accountability. A new Nigeria with responsible leadership and respectable following is desirable and achievable. The Civil Society Organisations, the academia and non-political elites as well as the public in general have a task to bring about the required change. This country belongs to those of us around today and our children that are to inherit its future. We have to give our youths the desirable future if you do not want them on the street again and very soon. The economic managers of today should decide whether they want to be praised or cursed by future generation when Nigerian will be celebrating its 100 years.
Concluded
Tella is a Professor of Economics, Olabisi Onabanjo University, Ago-Iwoye
END
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