I wonder if Naija’s case is even worth discussing anymore.

Let me tell you a short but significant story
The Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Babatunde Raji Fashola SAN, was in The UK about 2–3 years ago as keynote speaker at a seminar designed to encourage FDI and inward reinvestment by Diaspora Nigerians. During the interactive session, other Naija’s in the audience who had travelled from Nigeria to attend, accused Diaspora Naijas, of wanting soft landing at the expense of those living and investing in Naija.
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After much banter a Naija dude in the audience felt inspired to invest. Buuuuuttttt…… What is the smartest thing to do before starting a business in Nigeria? (https://www.hetogrow.com/what-is-the-smartest-thing-to-do-before-starting-a-business) After investing, the Naira was suddenly devalued by 100% and Naira vs GBP fx rate fell sharply from circa N250 : GBP1 to circa N500 : GBP1. This wasn't good for business continuity. He thought of shutting down immediately but decided to try and wait it out as suggested by friends and associates. However, the pain got too much to bear. He decided to apply for FX from CBN. After much discussion with his bank and enquiry at CBN, it was agreed that the best route was CBN-FORM-Q. He sent in his application with supporting documents (Customs duty payment receipt, tax, form M, other clearing documents, etc) via the approved channel.

8 months later the application was still pending with no reason whatsoever. The guy (a Fellow Chartered Accountant who had worked in Nigeria in Oil & Gas and Banking) decided to use his social networks to find out what’s happening. One of his sources was able to track down the application inside CBN’s TED (Trade and Exchange Department). Apparently the file was pulled out from a drawer (or some location like that) followed by a comment like….”oh! Mr XYZ, we are still waiting for him to come and see us. This is clear solicitation and inducement of bribery.
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Shocked by this the dude decided to escalate to Anti-corruption and Ethics Units also at CBN. Soon after frantic calls emanated from the TED about the application and in an attempt to cover their dirty back sides, they asked for more unnecessary and irrelevant documents. Nonetheless, the documents were quickly forwarded.

They then issued a letter instructing a fresh application be submitted via a route the letter clearly stated that the deadline had lapsed. Shocked by the stupidity, the dude queried this, demanding to know why they wanted him to apply for something he evidently wasn’t entitled to nor qualified for. No further response was received from CBN.
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After waiting a further few months the dude escalated the matter to PEBEC allegeing incidence of bribery and corruption. In response to PEBEC’s enquiry, the TED denied the allegation and lied that the products for which FX was sought hadn’t been imported into Naija. The dude then responded with some questions
1. If nothing was imported, what was the Form M for?
2. What was the customs duty receipt for?
3. What about the other clearing documents that were submitted?
4. A basic check on the internet would have revealed that the goods were available on Jumia, Konga, OLX, Jiji and own online store as well as many other traditional stores. Was this basic check done?
5. Why did it take 8 months to get a response and only after escalation to Anti Corruption Unit? And what was the “come and see us” comment all about if not to frustrate the guy into doling out some cash before you do your job otherwise forget it?
6. What is the SLA and related CBN policy for such applications?

No further response was received from either CBN or PEBEC.

Meanwhile, in December the following year the dude decided to cut costs by closing his business centre to save on rent. He also let go of staff as he decided to withdraw from Naija - Just like Richard Branson did with his Virgin Atlantic.
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Hear him….>>> https://howafrica.com/why-and-how-virgin-atlantic-airways-left-the-nigerian-market-sacked-all-nigerian-cabin-crew-closed-down-call-centre/ “We fought daily battle against government agents who wanted to daily make fortune from us, politicians who saw the government 49% as a meal to seek for all kinds of favour…watchdogs (regulatory body) that didn’t know what to do and persistently asking for bribes at any point…Nigeria people are generally nice but the politicians are very insane…that may be irony because the people make up the politicians…

“But those politicians are selfish…we did make N3billion for the federal government of Nigeria during the joint venture…realising that the government didn’t bring nothing to the table/partnership except dubious debts by the previous carrier, Nigeria Airways…The joint venture should have been the biggest African carrier by now if the partnership was allowed to grow, but the politicians KILLED it…Nigeria is a country we SHALL NEVER consider to doing business again..”
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Today we have Nigeria Air. Similar to Nigeria Airways (which the cancer called corruption destroyed) I wonder what will befall it. Success doesn’t come by changing name o. You see, **Virgin Nigeria Airways** was renamed **Air Nigeria **and later changed to **Nigerian Eagle Airlines**. But where is it today? On 6 September 2012 Air Nigeria announced that it had made its staff redundant and ceased operations 4 days later.
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Chaiiiiii ….. Naijaaaaa! I weep for you!! Sunny Okosun of blessed memory asked the question - which way Nigeria? I just dey cry oooooo….. tears full my eyes!
**Lyrics for Which Way Nigeria by Sonny Okosun - **Note …my best effort buy you’ll get the gist
“Which way nigeria
which way to go
i love my father land
o yeah
i want to know
yes i want to know
i love my fatherland…….
…. i want to know
which way nigeria is heading to
many years after independence
we still find it hard to start
how long shall we be patient till we reach the promised land, tell me
lets save nigeria
so nigeria wont die……”
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Anyways, enough diversion. Back to the main story; as you can see, because some idiots at CBN wanted to be bribed before doing their jobs, landlords lost rental income and people lost their jobs. I can’t help but wonder how many others have suffered a similar fate. For those that paid the bribe and got their FX, how do they recover that cost if not by increasing the price of their goods and services? May be they even just packed up and left. Bribery/Corruption is like malignant cancer or other disease or virus that’s aggressively spreading and destroying Naija.
The question is - How corrupt is Naija? But I ask, what's the impact of of corruption in Nigeria?

Let me tell you another quick story.
About 7 years ago, a friend packed up from the UK and when to invest in Naija. He set up a business centre and quickly employed some people including family members to run it. He imported heavy duty generators and printing equipment. Everything was running smoothly. However, he quickly notice that whenever he travelled out of the country, running costs quickly skyrocketed and everything normalised when he got back in town. This continued for a while and he decided to change tactics by tightening all the loopholes and potholes. Can you see what the image implies? Even potholes tell the story!
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The next thing that happened was that the heavy duty generators and other plant and machinery that were in perfecting working condition suddenly started breaking down. Things started disappearing and the business went downhill from there. After 2 years (about 5 years ago now) my friend ran back to the UK looking very emaciated. He said they wanted to kill him and he decided the people weren't worth helping. His summation was the people have a high tendency to cheat and steal. And some believe that they had certain rights they were denied hence felt justified to take what they could.

The guy has since rebuilt his life in the UK and is doing well for himself. Funny thing is that the so called family and friends who stole from him and destroyed his business still call him to ask for assistance. Ha! Needless to say what the guy’s reaction is each time they call him.
How corrupt is Naija? Hmmm… you tell me!
Despite these two/three bad experiences amongst many others I feel sure, we have a lot of honest and hardworking people in Nigeria who just want a chance/creative environment to demonstrate the positive things they can do. Someone asked a question about how other Africans view Nigerians. Have a look at my answer and check out the comments too - Dave Ebi's answer to How do other African countries view Nigeria? (http://qr.ae/TUNMTX) You’ll see we have a lot to offer and many await our rising up. But sadly, we let ourselves down too quickly too often.

The government and politicians have a major role to play in that department. Unfortunately, evidence suggests that there ain't much to hope for in that regard. With that in mind, Nigerians need to wake up and take responsibility. Perhaps start something new and chart a new course for themselves whilst standing up for their rights in a very intelligent and strategic manner rather than being way too myopic and permitting the status quo to persist. Take personal responsibility and stop saying “God will do it”. I get so angry when I hear statements like “Na God go save Naija”. Meanwhile, given the opportunity the various commentators will do a “sharp one on you”. Kaaaai!!!! Naija’s case is both cancer and scorpion’s venom mixed together.
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The government needs to stop wasting time and money chasing Foreign Direct Investment. They won’t “REALLY” come. If NaIja entrepreneurs who go back home to invest suffer so much at the hands of fellow Naija’s, why should foreigners “REALLY” come and invest? Look at a China today, for about 20 - 30 years they operated a model closed-economy. During that period they build themselves up and set up infrastructure and systems that would attract FDI’s. When they opened up their economy, the world was wowed and capital started flowing into China almost uncontrollably. Other examples include Singapore and Dubai (a desert country that has built an oasis in the desert). Today, China operates what I call a semi open economy - aggressively encouraging inward flow of key factors of modern production but strictly controlling what’s going out. Smart innit?

I can’t really blame them for doing what they feel they need to do to ensure national dignity and self preservation. Yes, there’s the other side of their story but that’s outside the scope of this question. My main point from their experience is that there’s a good lesson for Naija to learn. Buuuutttt…… will the powers that be learn it? We NEED Inspired Leadership.
I don tire buuuutttt…….. I too like Naija! Up NEPAaaaaaaa!!
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