Nigeria is suffering from a chronic case of an Alarming Inability to Dialogue Sensibly (Aids)

Nigeria is suffering from a chronic case of an Alarming Inability to Dialogue Sensibly (Aids)

By Ayo Akinfe 

(1) No matter how you dissect Nigeria’s problems, it will always come down to the fact that we are not productive enough. Basically, we do not produce enough goods and services to cater for the needs of 180m people. Our gross domestic product of $375bn and annual budget of $28.8bn only meet about one tenth of our collective needs

(2) Due to a combination of many years of military rule and a unitarist system of government, we have come to believe that the state must provide all our needs. Nigerians believe that whoever occupies Aso Rock is the magician who will solve all their problems. I am sure my people think that the idea of the industrial revolution came from Downing Street or Henry Ford got his idea for the automated factory from the White House 

(3) Matters are not helped by that cursed commodity called crude oil. It accounts for over 90% of government revenue, is controlled by the presidency and proceeds are given to the states and local government similar to the way zakat or unemployment benefits are handed out, fuelling an unprecedented form of dependency. I do not know of any other nation on earth where the economy is so dependent on the presidency 

(4) As a result of this, corruption thrives like a forest fire does when doused with petrol. When the government is the primary source of wealth, it is inevitable that every ambitious businessman will go there in search of wealth. He invests money to get into office and as soon as he or she settles in they start to recoup their investment 

(5) No amount of EFCC prosecutions can end corruption as long as the status quo remains. If, on the other hand, however, the government was irrelevant economically, it would not be such a den of thieves. If for instance the factories in Anambra State generated as much revenue as the federal government currently gets from crude oil sales, an ambitious businessman would rather invest his money in say Obosi Engineering Company, Abatete Manufacturing Plant or Ogidi Machine Tools than run for governor or senator 

(6) One just needs to look at how Abdullahi Ganduje has sought 30% of all contracts handed out by the Kano State Government. If he could float a legal practice or accountancy firm to represent the government when it negotiates contracts, he could make his money from there without seeking public office. Just imagine if he could apply for the contract online without knowing anybody 

(7) We blame our leaders for our woes but are they under any pressure to perform? President Buhari is currently in Saudi Arabia but if he knew that upon his return 10,000 people would be at the airport protesting the fact that he did not secure any investment while abroad, he would think twice about coming back empty handed 

(8) What particularly makes my heart bleed is how our thinking has been affected by all this. We have developed an Alarming Inability to Dialogue Sensibly (Aids) as a result of this quagmire. Ethnic and religious suspicion, a total dependence on the government, the fanatical search for divine solutions and above all a refusal to look for solutions to our problems have become our hallmarks of late 

(9) This bridge here was built by Italian artist Lorenzo Quinn over a Venetian waterway, symbolic of the need to build bridges and overcome divisions. Just imagine how much we need such a bridge in ethnically-charged Nigeria. I find it hard to understand why we have not had consortiums come together to build such a crossing between Asaba and Onitsha or Illah and Nzam. Make it innovative with maybe an aquarium as its handrail, have it over two stories with a road above a railway line below and maybe for effect have a shopping mall on either side of the river bank. How have we become so intellectually lazy that we no longer think like this? All we want are oil blocks and instant wealth

(10) If anyone tries to raise these issues, their voice will get drowned out by the cacophony of obscene ethnic and political bigotry, which has become our hallmark since we acquired this virus called Aids. Our inability to diagnose our problems will always lead to the prescription of ineffective remedies. That is the Catch 22 situation in which we currently find ourselves