By Solomon Okocha
“We’re still in a recession. We’re not gonna be out of it for a while, but we will get out.” – Warren Buffett
Growing up as a child, each time I ran into one of those highly troubling and heart-aching situations, like when I mistakenly burnt my father’s trousers while ironing it, or when a ball escaped from my leg, bounced over the gate and landed on the windscreen of a stranger’s car on the road etc, I always found solace in the greatest phenomenon of life – time. Like they say, what doesn’t kill you, makes you stronger.
These days so many people, including my wife and close associates, find it very difficult to understand why I still have faith in the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari, in spite of the now popular 9 letter word – recession, that keeps forcing up its ugly head on breakfast, lunch, and dinner tables across the country. Doesn’t the hunger in the land affect me? Maybe I’m benefiting from the government at the center, of which I doggedly campaigned for, and still support at the expense of my life, personal liberty, privacy, and family?
Far from it. I have not benefited nothing from this government. Please feel free to quote me anywhere. My evergreen faith in this administration stems from the fact that integrity is a hard currency when it comes to governance in particular and life in general. Don’t get me wrong, integrity is not everything, but it is a veritable part and parcel of economic development. Integrity will not address the urgent economic quagmire that has bedevilled Nigeria, but integrity can bail out debt-ridden States to the tune of billions, in order to offset workers salaries. Integrity is responsible for revenue generation from non-oil sectors to fund the budget even in the heat of recession. Integrity is the reason for the Treasury Single Account (TSA): for the very first time in the history of Nigeria, we can now trace, identify, monitor and manage our collective patrimony, without inviting international auditors to beam their searchlights into our books.
It is true that things are bad, in fact, things are really bad. Three days ago, when my wife informed me of a 50% increment in the tuition fees of our two beautiful daughters – Berenice and Adelia, my heart skipped to mount Kilimanjaro and landed in Bermuda Triangle. Worst of it all was that I received this horrible news while I was just driving out from a filling station after spending almost double of what I used to spend on fuelling of my car. Yesterday my car broke down on the road and I spent a fortune fixing it. Just this morning, PHED disconnected power from my house because I’m owing scores of thousands of Naira in electricity bill, and now my children can no longer watch TV until their Daddy can painstakingly offset the life threatening bill; how bad can it get?
One of the lapses of President Buhari’s administration is communication. With due respect to Alhaji Lai Mohammed, his Ministry is failing in terms of adequately informing the masses of the plans, workings, and achievements of the President Buhari-led Federal Government. For a government that enjoyed massive goodwill across the social media during the electioneering period, it baffles my understanding why information dissemination via the same medium and others, is now a very big challenge.
Facts, they say, are sacred. What is recession? Who caused Nigeria’s recession? Can a country that literary feeds on crude oil survive an all time low in the price of the same commodity that is ironically the main reason why she is in a recession in the first place? How do we get of this messy situation? Is there any light beyond the tunnel? Should we all declare bankruptcy? Alhaji Lai Mohammed and co, please bear my amateur attempt at explaining what ordinarily you ought be singing in the ears of Nigerians by now, after all, my services for you all these years have been pro bono, with all pleasure.
For me, the best definition of the word – recession comes from Jessica Irvine, an Australian Fairfax economics writer: “recessions are real enough, and we might just be in the middle of one now, but there’s nothing official about it. Nowhere is it written in stone or decreed by law what constitutes a recession. In the broadest terms, all the word “recession” means is a period of time in which the economy contracts rather than grows”. So simply put, Nigeria is in a recession because her economy rather than growing is shrinking. Why? Simple too. What we have to sale in the market has extremely lost value. Our crude is no longer gold; demand has terribly depreciated. Nothing to sell, nothing to gain. It’s neither magic, nor nuclear science. More importantly, this recession is not President Buhari’s fault, in fact those who should receive our verbal venoms are those who sat on our economy when oil sold at an all time high, yet they couldn’t even save a dime for the rainy days. Big shame.
What should we do? Diversify! Diversify? When shall it be? In Nigeria, diversification of the economy, has become a rhetorical phrase often used by politicians and head of parastatals when giving lengthy and boring speeches during conferences that produce nothing for the country. Maybe they think that this is joke? Maybe they do not really understand the dangers of operating a mono-economy. I’m not sure that these so called leaders know what we are getting into; if care is not taken, as poverty in the land deepens, they will become the victims of their laziness, selfishness, and stupidity. What they don’t know is that Insecurity and restiveness is a by-product of a sick economy. Nigeria needs to quickly move diversification from paper to a realisable platform. We can start by producing toothpicks. State Governments can create thousands of jobs by this act alone. We have the raw materials, we have the manpower – a vibrant youthful population, we have international alliances etc; what then is our problem?
How come Nigeria has existed for more than fifty years or so, yet there is no visible plan for the future? How come our fathers and mothers were too comfortable, smiling sheepishly and watching hopelessly while successive governments came and left without creating a conducive environment for generations yet unborn? How come Nigeria does not have a comprehensive data of her citizens? Can we say then that the generation of President Muhammadu Buhari failed us? Perhaps, that’s the main reason why he came back at 73, tired, frail and old, to govern Nigeria again?
I see President Buhari as man who’s living under the burden of guilt. Yes, I saw that same shade of guilt in my father’s eyes when he was sick and dying. Lying there on his death bed, I saw the pains of a man who knew that his generation have woefully failed us. A generation that couldn’t provide adequate health facilities for her citizens, a generation that couldn’t save enough money to sustain her children in times of recession, a generation that produced millions of children without properly planning for their future. Here I was, a helpless teenager, as I watched my father die of an ailment that no Nigerian hospital could properly diagnose or medicate. I kept telling myself that he could’ve survived that sickness if he lived overseas. Again, time saw me through.
The solutions to our myriads of problems in Nigeria, dwell in our ability to begin thinking, talking, planning, and acting as a people who realise that we are in big trouble. I’m yet to understand why our Senators and House of Representatives Members are still collecting their full jumbo pay even when Nigerians are committing suicide left, right and due to the unbearable effects of recession. Our State Governors need to also explain to us why they are still receiving homongous security votes and gigantic allowances, even when workers are starving to death due to non-payment of over eight months salaries. Pastors, Imams, Native Doctors, etc, should please explain to us why they keep demanding seeds, tithes, and offerings from the impoverished masses of Nigeria even at a time of extreme pain and sorrow. Is this rape not enough? Shall we bleed to death?
Dear friends, make no mistake about it, by virtue of his position, this recession is President Buhari’s cross, and carry must he till the very end. This recession is a test of his widely acclaimed will power, his highly publicised integrity, and his strongly desired conservatism. The universe is offering Buhari a parting gift, because by attempting to solve Nigeria’s perennial economic and social crisis, Buhari will end up writing his name in gold. The President will die a happy man if he can correct the errors that his friends and age mates caused for Nigeria.
Back then as a child, time was my best friend (still is). Being blessed with a mother who believes in the powerful force called time, my ability to endure harsh situations of life evolved to something many people aren’t used to in this clime, for good reasons too. Once I believe that I’m on the right track, I religiously stay on track, feel the pain, and make the gain. That’s why I’m staying with President Buhari through this recession. I know that he means well for Nigeria and in my heart of hearts, I have faith that he’ll transform the fears and facts about this ongoing recession to something that will heal a country that his generation almost destroyed beyond redemption.
*Solomon Okocha can be reached via email: solomon.okocha@gmail.com
