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Obasanjo: We Need More than Nne Transcorp By Emmanuel chukwura Achife
Looking up at the greenery and tall trees that make up part of the mountain was breath taking especially with the fresh air drifting from the mountains. Greenery always does this to me, green and fresh air you can‘t beat that anytime, any place. That’s why Enugu to me is still the most beautiful place, British Columbia is next on the list though I can’t claim to be all over the world but if it has greens as far as am concerned it is beautiful. But this is neither Enugu nor British Columbia but the outskirt of Okayama city in the western part of Japan. The road was very narrow as was expected but that did not affect the traffic as the design of vehicles that transverse this beautiful village has been built to suit the landscape of the country as a whole. The tour guide on our way to the Asahi glass industry was describing to us how the place came to being and the history of the surrounding industries. The fascinating thing about these villages is that they house industries that affect the lives of you and me yet they are non-descript , no smoke stacks, no big warehouses, everything blending with the natural environment. From the sing-song voice of the tour guide a very pretty young lady in her late teens or early twenties came the repeat of the names, Meiji and Mitsubishi as if they are one and the same. Listening closely to her narration Meiji was an era and Mitsubishi the industry. I started noticing that many things were named after Meiji and even some corner stores. Emperor Meiji as was later revealed to me was the father of modern day Japan period.
Briefly, Meiji era started from 1868 to 1912 after the Tokugawa era that. The Tokugawa era was more like the military rule only that instead of generals they had daimios and samurais. Emperor Meiji, first to control and actuate his programs moved the capital from Kyoto to Tokyo thus establishing his own -devoid of the sycophants that remained of the Tokugawa in Kyoto. Meiji carried out drastic reforms in all areas with the main aim of catching up with the West and turn Japan his beloved country into an industrialized nation both economically as well as militarily to protect their people. He first started with land reforms, land was originally owned by the daimyos or what we call the feudal lords ( ethnic warlords) , he centralized the land and kept it in the hands of the government. This singular act gave the government the reigns of managing taxes as accrued thus denying the feudal lords the heavy burden they placed on the masses and also the source of their power. ( there were rebellions of course which was decisively dealt with) He created states ( called prefectures) and Diet or parliament. While he was at it he noted that Japan needed to deal with its massive population explosion. The poor state of the economy saw people selling their daughters to brothels, taking them on their bicycles to meet men for money, armed robbery, rise of the yakuza or the Japanese Mafia, the most vicious so far in the world. He entered into agreement with other nations to send the poor abroad to work and in most cases encouraged illegal emigration that shipped Japanese all over the world to help alleviate the population problem and extreme poverty at home.,., that’s why we see a lot of Japanese ancestry in places like Hawaii, America, Peru, Brazil , Dominica republic, Columbia and other places like South Africa. What Emperor Meiji basically did was preside over a country where he accepted the best of ideas and give approval for its implementation. He did not directly rule the country but allowed the best brains to flourish and move it towards a better direction. Meiji assumed the emperorship at the age of 14 and died at the age of 60
But the greatest achievement was the establishment of the five industrial conglomerates that run the world as we know it today. He basically selected individuals from different parts of the country he believed were performers that shared his vision for the transformation of the country. Initially to create jobs, Meiji government built railways, power plants, mines, glass , chemical, cement, telephones, banks, shipyards and other industries. Seeing that the companies put a lot of strain on the government finances because of poor management, he sold the companies to basically five families who were well versed in business and finance and gave them unfettered access to credit with the understanding that it was held in trust for the Japanese people. Asahi glass industry where we nt on tour is owned by Mitsubishi one of the five families that makes everyday things we use either directly or indirectly. The other industrial families which Meiji helped to promote were the Mitsui, Sumitomo, Fuji and Sanwa. The role of the Meiji government was to market the product of these entities abroad. They entered into treaties with other nations for the sole purpose of marketing their products. And in places where there was competition, from the west, the Japanese would declare colonies to sell their products. So began the conquest of Asia and establishment of colonies, in China, Philippines and other Asian nations.
To appreciate the powers of these five families or Zaibatsu take a look at Mitsubishi (though they own less than one percent of the current values of the companies and in some cases it is just the name of the families or what is left of them. Some just draw a kind of stipend). Mitsubishi makes, things that make things work. For example without them Intel will not be manufacturing today , because they are one of the two or three companies in the world that process sand into silicon that are then converted into computer chips - imagine that kind of power. They are into electric generation, gas, oil, steel , chemicals, car and truck manufacture, electronics, shipping, paper plastics, real estate, insurance, banking, cable, television production and stations, airplanes, satellites, military equipment, railway, photography, brewery, cameras. Now multiply these by four other companies making the same things, that’s the power of these Zaibatsu or kereitsu as they are now known. South Korea modeled their economy after the Japanese that saw the rise of Samsung, Hyundai and the rest of the chaebol. More than half of the adult population in these countries work for these entities. As our tour guide said , the only thing they do not control is the manufacture of human beings but don’t bet on it yet.
When I heard about the inception of Transcorp I was trilled to say the least, that someone somewhere in Obasanjo administration is paying close attention on how the world works. The role of the government is not to create jobs as it is obvious now - that they are lousy at it., what the government is good at is stimulating or creating an environment where companies can thrive and also gather the best brains to work on crafting policies to give home companies advantages over others from abroad. The most powerful ministry in Japan is MEITI formerly MITI ministry of industry and international trade. With these behemoths in mind, MEITI continually craft policies to benefit their export programs. All these so-called aid coming from Japan is for the promotion of these big companies and their products The current creation of Transcorp though welcoming is limiting and more needs to be done. The present Transcorp demands competitors to help them gather the best brains lying around the country. Imagine where we have six “Transcorp” or by whatever name, we would have six companies competing to build the best refineries, competing to build the best rail lines, competing to build the best housing estates, competing to build the best cars, competing to build the best power plant competing to build the best ships, trains, planes, petrochemical, and so forth. And when they venture outside the country, they will be collaborating and communicating to be the best Nigeria can be. Through competition, the six “Transcorp” would attract the best brains that would see a revise brain drain as our best would favor to work with them than subordinate themselves to the likes of Shell and Exxon of the world that would prefer all of us dead. When the Japanese go out of their country, they know that they have to have products from their country as it is a product of competition , and that with competition comes the best. Six “Transcorp” providing half of what Mitsubishi is currently doing would nevertheless employ half the working adult population in our beloved country. Competition among the six would help set standards, both in building, building materials, engineering, drug production and other areas that we would not need to chase the baby killers of Ochanga or Ariria with their fake drug products. They would even set the standards on the kind of education that would benefit them thus the whole country.
Mr. President, at least for the last act before you leave the stage, set it up for six other “Transcorp“. There are a lot of enterprising young Nigerians that can take the challenge. As a foot note, the founder of Mitsubishi died a the age of 50 so you can imagine, they need not be old men but young men who share your vision of Transcorp in terms of transforming our beloved and beautiful Nigeria.
Thanks
May your deity give you happiness and love of life,
Sincerely,
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