Nigeria 's Nothing Ever Works (NEW) Syndrome 

By

Anie Udoh 

anieudo@hotmail.com

 

"All that the downtrodden can do is go on hoping. After every disappointment they must find fresh reason to hope." - Aleksandr I. Solzhenitsyn 

It is no longer news that Nigeria has good prospects and huge potentials with enormous resource endowment. Everything you can wish for in a vibrant and wealthy nation. Also everything you could dread in a failed state. 

Nigeria, noted in a spurious survey as inhabited by the happiest people on earth is ever engulfed in the gloom of a dreaded past that has hindered her liberation to a beckoning future of hope, happiness, wealth and true greatness. The nation is ever gripped with the Nothing Ever Works Syndrome (NEWS). Word merchants will tell you bad news is good news. Really? As if inspired by such perverse philosophy Nigeria has managed to stay on the front page more often than not for reasons not good enough for the health of the nation and the well-being of its people. 

The growing public cynicism about the reform proposals of the government is a manifest symptom of the NEWS. The fresh thinking in government circles to inject some youthful and professional inputs into governance is a development less appreciated by a frustrated and distressed populace. The new wave of reforms sweeping through the socio-economic landscape is needful in treating the national malaise of the NEWS. It sure threatens the interests of a few vocal, powerful and parasitic cabal. The same group who propagate the doctrine of public apathy and a maddening refusal to understand and appreciate the basic principles behind the reform packages. 

A case in point is Soludo's Economic Experiment (SEE), showcased in his National Economic Empowerment and Development Strategy (NEEDS). Professor Charles Soludo, the erstwhile economic adviser the president and now governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) , is a proud home-grown economist. Soludo comes on stage with impressive academic credentials. A first class scholar who excelled against the odds in the not so conducive academic environment in Nigeria , the Nsukka trained professor deserves the accolade for outstanding academic performance. 

However, the youthful professor's experience in the application of the economic theories he seems to have learnt and understood so well is rather limited. Going by his advertised resume, his first major chance in the practical world of economics appears to be his new turf at the helm of the CBN, in an executive capacity. The CBN governor, who inferred a preference to the title of a Vice Chancellor, perhaps in admiration of their authoritarian style in ruling the Nigerian universities, frayed public nerves in his first official outing with his now (in) famous 14 Commandments of June 8 2004 . The new law proposes reforms for the banking and financial sector of the economy. 

The cynical Nigerian public ever skeptical about the ability of government policies to deliver desired public goods hastily made a pick of Soludo's 'golden rule': N25billion capital base for banks in Nigeria by the end of 2005! The reform antagonists scored Soludo low marks and tried to rally the public to accept their interpretation of the golden rule as uncaring and failing Thomas Aquinas test of "law" seen as "an ordinance of reason for the common good made and promulgated by him who has the care of the community." 

Soludo as a good student of economics is aware and would appreciate the rationale and good judgment of John Maynard Keynes that, "economics is a technique of thinking ...and not a body of settled conclusion." Moreover, economic theories unlike the pure science cannot be tested in a controlled environment or rehearsed before the real thing. Economic tests come on direct in live shows in actual human settings.  It therefore demands utmost caution on the part of policymakers in transmitting economic brainwaves intended to buoy the people to the good life to allow such sink gradually. This is to mitigate against the shock of change and the risk of failure which could drown the people in the sea of hardship, helplessness, hopelessness and to the depth of distress and despair.  In truth government's good intention is not sufficient to sway public opinion, an essential first step to the needed public support if the set objectives of the proposed reforms must be met. Indeed the Nigerian people have become weary of seeing their country turned into a sort of theatre for flawed economic experiments.  Public policies predicated on government's orchestrated propaganda and foisted on the nation without appropriate sensitivity test can hardly be sustained. The failure of such hollow policies deepens poverty, spread hardship. erode public confidence, and inflame civic discontent and moral crises. These cannot be the intention of a responsible government. The fanfare often displayed in launching public policies is hardly matched with sustained, disciplined commitment by policymakers in carrying out such policies to fruition. The policies are primarily sabotaged through executive graft, bureaucratic corruption, administrative lethargy, nepotism, fiscal indiscipline, personnel ineptitude and government arrogance. 

With the mindset of a Vice Chancellor, Soludo could well drift into the feudal mentality of 'we' versus 'them' insisting on decreeing his academic hypothesis into existence. such posturing could well crowd out the generality of the people to the fringe of meaningless suffering. Soludo's kinsman Chinwoke Mbadinuju (remember him?) had once cautioned against unbridled intellectual exuberant of scholars in public office. In his words, "an intellectual in Nigerian politics should on no account sound off as a scholar. Else, he would be engaging in self-alienation, the greatest calamity that could befall anyone in electoral politics or holding elective office...Identification with the community is imperative even if the society in question is composed of illiterates and ...the leadership of the people a scintillating scholar." There is little evidence that the cerebral erstwhile governor of Anambra State practiced his preaching during his tumultuous reign. Ironically, fulfilling his own prophecy by alienating himself from his people and country through a self-imposed exile. Soludo and his reformist team will do well to imbibe the lessons in Mbadinuju's admonition. Communication from policymakers should convey assurances of genuine accommodation of the interest of the people that government is supposed to serve, knowing that haughty communication breed naughty relationship. Afterall economic prosperity, as Keynes rightly acknowledged in a way, "depends not on how brilliant a few people are, but on how large a scale you are able to produce competent people in all walks of life." The people of Nigeria badly need something real to pin their hope with the belief that such will provide a lifeline out of the gloom they have been made to wallow for so long. 

Taken on face value the reform proposals appear well articulated and capable of demobilizing the economy that has remained largely unproductive with an inordinate propensity for consumption. The banking and financial sector reform policy holds promise for an economy that will benefit from a well-structured and stronger foundation of financial solvency and fiscal discipline. If policymakers can humble themselves and muster the faith and steadfastness to carry through with the reform programmes, the nation and indeed the people will be better off. 

However, government must learn to show understanding and appreciate genuine public concerns against the backdrop of a disappointing past where peoples' attitude would have been adversely altered and their trust in government waned. Following protracted public policy failures, the Nigerian people have been pushed beyond the threshold of hardship and suffering where many may have lost the appetite to live. The reform proposal of NEEDS and its subsets has rekindled the flame of hope for Nigeria . We should all as patriots cease the moment and make our contributions in rewriting our nation's history such that we can proudly proclaim that, Now Everything Works (NEW)! That is the NEW Nigeria we all aspire to and hope for where the frontiers of a productive and prosperous economy can be extended to many people to explore their talents and realize their dreams no matter how small or grand. It is a debt we all owe our country and the future generation of Nigerians and we have what it takes to bring about that NEW Nigeria . Lets join hands to transform the reform proposals to reality.   

Anie Udoh 

E-mail: anieudo@hotmail.com