It is either I do not understand economics and how exchange rates work or a vast majority of us Nigerians still don’t get how we have wrecked our country with our own curious choices. Just this morning I was listening to the radio and the lady on air went on and on about how she thought CBN governor Godwin Emefiele was incompetent and should be sacked because the naira was now exchanging at 309 or so to the USD.

That view pretty much echoes the sentiments expressed by many people I know and it amazes me that there are Nigerians who actually think there is some magic POLICY that can make the Naira strong in the near term. If my economics and my understanding of the way the world works are right, then that is as far from the truth as Jesus Christ is black.

The simple fact of the matter is that apart from oil that accounts for over 90% of our revenues, we really don’t have much of an economy. We hardly produce anything, we import even toothpicks, so exactly what policy is going to be implemented that will turn Nigeria into a top exporting economy in the near term? Where are our Apples, IBMs, Disneys, GMs, General Electrics, Coca Colas, Empire State buildings, Statues of Liberties, Lockheeds, Citibanks, JP Morgans, ExxonMobils, NBAs, Super Bowls etc? Let me bring that closer home.

There was a time long ago when Nigeria had a truly strong economy and the naira was one to the dollar – even exchanged for higher than the USD, but that Nigeria is not this Nigeria. Sadly that Nigeria was laid by the British, and this Nigeria (if you don’t believe in the nonsensical imperialist conspiracies like me) – fueled by the DAMAGING Indigenisation Decree, has been the creation of us Nigerians. Back then we had a booming economy.

We were either the top, or among the top exporters, of timbre, cocoa, groundnuts, rubber, palm oil, etc, in the world. Nigerians not only holidayed at home in their villages, at Yankari Games Reserve, at Obudu Cattle Ranch, at Oguta Lake, at Ikogosi springs, at Gurara Falls, at Mambilla Platueau, etc, we attracted international tourists who brought in loads of foreign exchange. Even Nigerian schools were foreign exchange earners because they attracted foreign students. We had different car assembly plants – Peugeot, Volkswagen, Anamco etc. Nigerian government officials only bought vehicles assembled in Nigeria for official cars. We had a thriving sports industry.

We were not Man United or Chelsea fans, we were Rangers or IICC fans. We had the Nduka Odizors, people made money from sports. We also had companies like Lennards and Bata producing school shoes in their thousands, we had the thriving Nigerian Airways and the Aviation School in the north that produced some of the best pilots in the world. In those days if you were brilliant you were respected much more than the crass money-miss-road contractors of today. Most of the Aje Butters I knew had fathers who were university dons. Back then it meant something to ‘know book’. Our textile industry was alive and well.

Just recently I watched a news report on the textile industry in Nigeria on CCTV News. Though the main focus was on the comatose status of the industry, I was stunned by the gigantic Kaduna Textile Mill built in 1957. I could go on and on. Today however, no thanks to our parents (and we must call them out the way Wole Soyinka did his generation) and many of us (and we should be remembered for failing our children if we continue like this), we have destroyed everything. Today for instance Nigerian football (which comes easy to me obviously) doesn’t appeal to us, we have to fly across thousands of miles to watch ‘our’ clubs play. Every year we collectively burn billions of Naira being fans of clubs that give us nothing back, but some ‘entertainment value’ – simple pleasures for which we are ready to destroy the future of our children.

Well people, payback time is here. Even with our ta-she-re money we all want to wear designer clothes and carry designer bags, Armani, Givenchy, Louis Vuitton etc. We all want to drive jeeps with American specs, our children must now school overseas and acquire the necessary accents to come back home and bamboozle their ‘bush and crass’ contemporaries that they left behind. Who holidays in Nigeria anymore, is there Disneyland here? No one buys made-in-Nigeria school bags for their children, after all no Superman or Incredible Hulk or Cinderella on them.

We are no longer top exporters of anything and the demise of oil means we have zilch… zero. A country of 170m fashion-conscious people has no textile industry. We take delight in showing how our made-in-Switzerland Aso Ebi is different class to everyone else’s. When we help our musicians grow and pay them millions, they repay us by immediately shipping the monies overseas to produce their “i-don-dey-different-level”music videos. It makes no difference that distinctly Zulu dancers are dancing to a Nigerian highlife song. As stars concerned they also wed and holiday overseas to impress us all.

All the musicians who acknowledge their Ajegunle roots now speak in a cocktail of strange accents to symbolise how much they have blown their monies overseas.
Were we a more serious people, the highly popular Kingsway Stores of the past would probably have a thousand outlets pan Nigeria today supporting a massive agriculture industry among others, but today we have the likes of SPAR, Shoprite, dominating the retail industry while Kingsway is dead. And we Nigerians make it a special point to shop from the Oyinbos who have ‘cleaner shops’, ‘better this and better that’. For our personal pleasure we don’t mind them dominating us in our own backyard and shipping proceeds overseas.

I could go on and on, but I don tire. Even as you are reading this, stop for a moment and look around you. What you see will probably explain why we are lucky it is not N1000 to the USD yet. And don’t think for a moment that it cannot get there. Just continue to wear your Armani gear and Swiss-made lace, continue to spend your money on Man United, Arsenal, Chelsea and Barca and encourage your children to do same. (My article tomorrow in my Saturday column in This Day is on the Nigerian champions Enyimba FC – Nigeria’s most successful club – not having a sponsor, yet Nigerian brands pay over N600m to Man United and Arsenal for sponsorship to impress us.) Ehhh, no problem, continue to tell me the NPFL is rubbish or the clubs should clean up their act if they want sponsorship, mo gbo .

Don’t curtail your interest in choice wines ( we were the number one champagne consumers in the world in 2015), continue to love your American specs, cheer the education ministry for letting schools sink to pitiable levels, don’t fight them to improve our schools, don’t chide them for letting schools drop Nigerian history and embrace British, America and whatever else curricula.

Carry on with your love of French wines and Chinese silk, don’t bother about Jamiu Alli when there is Roger Federer. Stock up on your Italian, American, British products which you cannot live without, including the ‘baby soft’ toilet rolls produced only in that small unique village in England – the days are long gone since you were a broke student who used wet newspapers to wipe your butt. Don’t even consider holidaying in Nigeria, it’s too dangerous – you have to fulfill your dream of being Nigeria’s Henry Ford. Don’t listen to people like me who have a wardrobe full of only cheap adire that is actually cheaper than just one of your Tom Ford blazers. Please keep dressing in fine silk made in some exotic place so you can be addressed accordingly.

Finally keep letting corrupt leaders who have looted your commonwealth and shipped all the monies overseas get away because to attack them does not fit your political narrative. Let us continue with the fine life, let us all continue to work for Oyinbo. But don’t forget that there is payback time and Emefiele is not your problem. Time for us all to look in the mirror and take responsibility.

I hope Seun, lalasticlala and mynd44 or whoever helps give this the publicity it deserves.

Smh

Sadly many people won't read this article. They will claim it is too long for them to read. Sadly. The newspapers and the journalist won't spread this type of article. Reason? It is saying the truth. The lies just as bad news sells more. The truth isn't so sensational while the lies will make sensational headlines.

Many people complaining about the economy don't even send their wards to Nigeria schools, they don't even trust Nigeria doctors. We keep growing other people's economy and complain that our economy is bad. Why won't it be bad? We call any Nigeria made product "Aba made" which is another way of saying fake when it necessarily isn't fake.

The same people complaining about the economy are the same people complaining about the Dasuki's, the Dokpesi of this world been prosecuted for corruption.

Whats more annoying is that the youth who should know better have allowed the idiotic politicians sell them a lie without doing their own investigation. It is even sadder considering the fact that people can easily know the truth via the internet without leaving the comfort of their homes but for whatever reason(s) ( chief among which is extreme laziness that seems to be sadly associated with his generation ) they choose not to.

A little research will show Libya, Brazil the almight Saudi, Venzuela among others are suffering way more than Nigeria mainly because their economy have been overly reliant on oil.

ooook

rubbish

okeyglm:
rubbish

I can bet my life that you didn't read that article you just posted the [b]rubbished [/b]you posted.

Pun intended.

[quote author=amagunnerfan post=44285465]I can bet my life that you didn't read that article you just posted the [b]rubbish [/b]you posted

what do you know about the article. dont quote me again.

Don't send your children to foreign schools like Buhari and only use Nigerian doctors and medications for your health unlike Buhari

I try, no be small

okeyglm:


you posted what do you know about the article. dont quote me again.

You are dumber than I thought.

You are on a public forum and do not want to be quoted? Stay in your father's house rather than on nairaland if you do not want to be quote. MU raised to power 2.

amagunnerfan:
You are dumber than I thought.

You are on a public forum and do not want to be quoted? Stay in your father's house rather than on nairaland if you do not want to be quote. MU raised to power 2.

are you related to buhari the dullard.

What bothers me is that majority of the youths that comment nowadays no nothing about the bata , kingsway, peugeot, construction of roads with timbre palm oil and cocoa money.

Either you are a ZOMBIE OR AN IPOB OR NEUTRAL. You Must read this.

Our leaders have been deceiving us and we have failed to reason .

May Almighty God help us.

okeyglm:
rubbish

The only rubbish I see here is you.

As expected, this thread won't get the publicity it deserves.

amagunnerfan:
As expected, this thread won't get the publicity it deserves.

Nice article but I think something like this has been on the FP before, sometime in January.
But having it on FP again as a reminder wont be bad though.

eleojo23:

Nice article but I think something like this has been on the FP before, sometime in January.
But having it on FP again as a reminder wont be bad though.

I don't think this article ever made the front page. It is a shame really.

amagunnerfan:
I don't think this article ever made the front page. It is a shame really.

It actually did make it to FP.
https://www.nairaland.com/2882970/see-why-naira-may-fall

But like I said earlier, having it there again wont be bad. Let's see how the mods will respond.

What is wrong with the Nigerian economy is the lack of coherence and masterplan from the leadership since April 2015 which is driving away foreign investors, making local ones sit on their cash, which like a domino has affected every other area of our economic web. There was just no plan for a transition, when you turn tea in a cup to the right for a length of time overtime all momentum goes to the right, if there is a sudden switch to the left, their will be a tempest in the teacup and some will still but over time, things will return to normal and all momentum shifts to the left, muhammadu buhari spilled the tea and still does'nt know how to clean it up...

I see some truth in what the article says but it only applies to a small segment of the Nigerian population, the elite and the "middle class". The market women, the farmers, the okaka riders, the vulcanizers, the akara sellers etc make up the larger percentage of our population and they don't drink champagne or wear designer clothes, they don't travel for summer, shop in shoprite or send their children abroad. The truth is this segment of the population never went to Kingswear or Leven is, never bought made in Nigeria cars and never holidayed in Yankari game reserve or Obudu cattle ranch. These people who are the bulk of Nigerians never had electricity or roads or good schools or good health care ever in the history of Nigeria. All these people want is food, something to wear and a place to lay their heads. So when castigating Nigerians, plese castigate you and I the privilege few that have education and exposure and instead of making things better for others are only interested in ourelies and our comfort and giving only our children the best education. That applies to less than 20 million Nigerians and I am being generous here the other 150 million cannot share in the blame with us.

hmmmm!

our parents' really failed us. though i hate to say it

we must not make the same mistake the outgoing generation make and the to act is now

i pray for my country

It still doesn't change the fact that your policies are anti people and unfriendly.


Knowing how bad the living conditions of people are, How do you justify the charges you impose on us for using our atms?


You charge a 1050 naira to issue cards then you charge card handling charges. What are you handling that yoou are charging for after handing the cards to us?

Most annoying is that this money is not even for the government but it's you making your colleagues, friends and business owner rich.


Forget the sweet talk and examples. You and Fashola no be am

amagunnerfan:


I hope Seun, lalasticlala and mynd44 or whoever helps give this the publicity it deserves.

this post made my day

A master class essay.

amagunnerfan:


I hope Seun, lalasticlala and mynd44 or whoever helps give this the publicity it deserves.

I tried explaining the above on these forum sometimes last week, yet some people called me a slowpoke and a fool telling me that when pdp was in power we were importing everything yet things aren't so expensive.

I know those same people won't read the article, rather they prefer to call the president a clueless and incompetent.

Please I will like to share these on my Facebook page.

homosapien:



I tried explaining the above on these forum sometimes last week, yet some people called me a slowpoke and a fool telling me that when pdp was in power we were importing everything yet things aren't so expensive.

I know those same people won't read the article, rather they prefer to call the president a clueless and incompetent.

Please I will like to share these on my Facebook page.

I got it from my pastor's facebook page too. You can share. And people criticising the president are doing it for bigotry reasons not more than that. Hatred has spread from generation to generation in their kindred.

allycat:
I see some truth in what the article says but it only applies to a small segment of the Nigerian population, the elite and the "middle class". The market women, the farmers, the okaka riders, the vulcanizers, the akara sellers etc make up the larger percentage of our population and they don't drink champagne or wear designer clothes, they don't travel for summer, shop in shoprite or send their children abroad. The truth is this segment of the population never went to Kingswear or Leven is, never bought made in Nigeria cars and never holidayed in Yankari game reserve or Obudu cattle ranch. These
people who are the bulk of Nigerians never had electricity or roads or good schools or good health care ever in the history of Nigeria. All these people want is food, something to wear and a place to lay their heads. So when castigating Nigerians, plese castigate you and I the privilege few that have education and exposure and instead of making things better for others are only interested in ourelies and our comfort and giving only our children the best education. That applies to less than 20 million Nigerians and I am being generous here the other 150 million cannot share in the blame with us.

Yet those market women, Artisan and the rest are still the same people that will come out to protest if any of those privileged few is been prosecuted.

The day we the masses start stoning the political elite, recalling them anytime they misbehave at the National level, that is when we start developing as a nation.

Look at the dasuki gate saga, the people throwing gibes at the current administration are those same set of people you tried to relieve of any blame. we are all to blame because one way or the other, we supported them.

homosapien:




Yet those market women, Artisan and the rest are still the same people that will come out to protest if any of those privileged few is been prosecuted.

The day we the masses start stoning the political elite, recalling them anytime they misbehave at the National level, that is when we start developing as a nation.

Look at the dasuki gate saga, the people throwing gibes at the current administration are those same set of people you tried to relieve of any blame. we are all to blame because one way or the other, we supported them.

What about buratai and other criminals in this govt? When are they prosecuting them? Listen man, when u choose to fight corruption one sided, people will protest against it and term it witchhunting

okeyglm:

are you related to buhari the dullard.

For u do not 2 get what d writer of this article is saying then d term dullard does not even describe uu because what he is saying is quite reasonable & affects us all.Although I do not agree it was Indigenisation dat ruined us but rather It is privatisation

Maghan37:
For u do not 2 get what d writer of this article is saying then d term dullard does not even describe uu because what he is saying is quite reasonable & affects us all.Although I do not agree it was Indigenisation dat ruined us but rather It is privatisation

Said on a privately-run forum, no doubt through a privately manufactured PC or phone, and using a privately operated telco. Yes, let's go back to the good old days of NITEL and Nigeria Airways! Are you even old enough to remember those wonderful times before privatisation supposedly "ruined" Nigeria?

The problem with Nigeria is that for the last 56 years it has been run by corrupt and inept leaders, who have been kept in office by hordes of ignorant, barely literate - or even outright illiterate - supporters who care about nothing but whether or not a politician is from their tribe and village. When what passes for "debate" is idiots who can't even tell apart supply and demand curves nonsensically quarreling about Okonjo-Iweala and Adeosun, is it any surprise that the leaders they get are utterly useless?

It is tiresome to read articles like this one which attempt to shift the blame for Nigeria's problems onto consumption of foreign goods, when the real problem is that Nigerian politicians' own poor choices are to blame for making domestic companies noncompetitive. In a better world, Nigeria would be a cheaper place to manufacture textiles, shoes and toothpicks than faraway China, but how can any domestic entrepreneurs take advantage of this when faced with the lack of electricity, the terrible roads, the barely functioning railroads, the sky-high rate of robberies and fraud, topped off by demands for bribes at every level of government? How can you run and grow a business without access to credit, and when your savings are always under threat from galloping inflation? How do you draw up and execute a long-term business plan when economically illiterate politicians arbitrarily ban imports and freeze the FX rate at artificial values? Is it any surprise then that aso-ebi cloth from Switzerland and toothpicks from China should win out under the circumstances?

Nigeria will only start to make real economic progress when Nigerians start to care more about politicians' proposals and track records than about where they're from and what religion they follow. Unfortunately I don't believe such a day will come any time soon, given how even the most blatant revelations of corruption always turn up swarms of morons to defend the thieves.

It's all weeping and talking gibberish. One who doesn't understand the usefulness and purpose of Indiginisation Decree, can never understand the value and meaning of Transactions and what makes for good Business. Soludo, SLS and Emefiele deposit Nigeria Reserve @ no interest to establish Jaiz Islamic Bank

I think all these arguments about our economy deteriorating because we are not buying made in Nigeria products is a little bit exaggerated. While i agree that we need to produce more, and we need to patronize made in Nigeria's products. I think there is a concerted effort by some foreign and local interest to reduce, or eliminate completely Nigerians economic, operative and industrilizing competitive advantage. I think Nigerians are helping more in advancing their objectives based on the story we tell ourselves. For example, why would our media continue to manipulate and speculate on naira? There is a reason why country like UK will continue to manipulate there currency and not allow it devalue further even when they're not part of the EU. Because it protects their competitive advantage. This same reasoning is why China will continue to manipulate their currency to protect their competitive advantage. So, why should our case be different?

By agreeing to float our currency, when our economy is not ready is one of the primary reason why Nigeria is in this conundrum today. Now we have to go through currency instability. Currency instability leads to vulnerable economy. Vulnerable economy leads to high inflation. High inflation leads to high interest rates. High interest rates leads to short term business planning, high importation rates, low manufacturing planning, closure of manufacturing facilities, contraction of ecojomic activities, job losses and others.

We need to protect our country from going into economic oblivion. Nigeria needs a positive story. A believable story that can rewrite our fortune. A story that will galvanize all Nigerians to be upright and forthright in their actions, and be more patriotic in their dealings. A Nigerian story strategized by government, promote inherently by media, echoed and re-echoed by Nigerians.

"Nigerian change strategy, planning, implementation and survival begins with me".

What a scrap. I feel the author thinks like Buhari, who feels that Nigerians returning to old social order is a solution to modern day civility.

Where are the laws to guide human behaviour and corresponding penalties spelt out without ambiguities?

Where are the new policies to support local industries? Even the export support grant has been scrapped.

Who are the promoters of buy Nigeria and make Nigeria great again? The ruling party is even antagonising the opposition for promoting the policy.

Will the North and West patronise made in Aba products notwithstanding the immediate challenges in quality assurance?

A country is divided along ethnic lines and is at war with itself hence the centre cannot hold.

Nigeria is bound to fall apart one day for building on a faulty foundation.