By Jonas Odocha
That the Nigerian economy is in a big mess must be obvious to every sane mind in this country today. It is indeed a major issue that needs to be tackled headlong by this current government, since as conventional wisdom dictates, any issue not resolved is one that will continue to rear its ugly head. Issues Management therefore calls for the establishment of Root Causes, their Analysis, Proffering of Solutions and the Implementation of Acceptable, Practicable and Realisable options. To me all heads must be put together to address this current Economic Crisis, and that is why the call for an Economic Summit is very welcome!
Yes, the readily available alibi for this economic conundrum is the DWINDLING OIL REVENUES arising from the global plummeting crude oil price. Again the fact that we continued to rely on Mono Economy while abandoning other natural resources such as Agriculture and Solid Minerals has brought us to where we are today.
In reality I believe that it goes beyond REVENUE GENERATION but more of REVENUE APPLICATION. This is for the simple reason that there are some other countries not so richly endowed that are not going through ECONOMIC STRAITS, as they are able to apply their meagre resources to meet their basic needs for economic growth and national development.
There is thus the compelling need to RETHINK THE CURRENT STRUCTURE OF NIGERIA IF WE MUST FIND OUR WAY OUT OF THE WOODS AND SURVIVE AS A NATION. The CURRENT 36-state structure coupled with the BI-CAMERAL PRESIDENTIAL SYSTEM is obviously too cumbersome and unwieldy to accommodate a healthy economy for Nigeria. There have been calls for a re-structuring of the current system to the 6-ZONE structure, which is a level above the 4-REGION post-independence structure. The REGIONAL STRUCTURE encouraged INTERNAL REVENUE GENERATION and HEALTHY DEVELOPMENTAL COMPETITION as opposed to the current 36-STATE structure which has turned out to be a HAND-OUT revenue source. The cost of governance alone is mind-boggling as each state is encumbered with humongous overhead and recurrent costs. Ministries abound in every state and yet no one can beat his chest and confirm what a Ministry of say Commerce and Industry in a state has achieved in a particular state. What Commerce? What Industry? Yet we continue to delude ourselves! Just a couple of days ago the Rivers State government announced that it carries a monthly WAGE BILL OF N7BILLION!!! Protests are ongoing in some WEALTHY STATES over non-payment of salaries and Pensions! We need to muster the courage and POLITICAL WILL to RETHINK THE NIGERIAN STUCTURE.
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There are also some basic issues we need to iron out so as to exhibit our SENSITIVITY TO ECONOMIC REALITIES. Why have we remained unconcerned over the HUGE BUDGETS ALLOCATED AS SECURITY VOTES AT VARIOUS LEVELS OF GOVERNANCE, realising same not to be AUDITABLE? Why have we closed our eyes to the CONTINUED PROCUREMENT OF EXOTIC CARS for official usage when previously purchased ones HAVE NO TRAILS? When official residences are ROUTINELY BUILT FOR CERTAIN GOVERNMENT FUNCTIONARIES AT BILLIONS OF NAIRA, what happens to such houses when they vacate office? Nigerians need to be aware of all these so that FUTURE BLOCKING OF WASTAGES AND CORRUPT TENDENCIES CAN BE HOLISTIC.
May we have the COURAGE AND CONSCIENCE TO RETHINK THE CURRENT STRUCTURE OF NIGERIA AS A WAY OR RATHER THE SANER PATH TO FOSTERING GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT OF NIGERIA FOR TOMORROW.
*Odocha is earth scientist/energy consultant and author of ‘THE WAY WE ARE: Ideas for a better Nigeria.’