mej67:


Please help point readers to the projected policies that are strategic.

Meanwhile hope you know the meaning of strategic. Or you believe that presenting a strategy means it is strategic.

Put simple, what in that writeup has potential to position Nigeria pivotally in the global coming of nations? Or project us into known economic blocks like BRICS?

Anyone who loves this woman should advise her against authoring such articles filled with wishlists and obvious contradictory policy positions. A monthly statement of activity showing progress and achievements and way forward is a more honourably way to connect with the outside world.

Or is she projecting that she's better as a columnist that a manager of national economy- our own Chancellor of Exchequer?

Hogwash!

Stop playing with words and learn the art of objectivity.

I am not too sure that you are aware that this is the third part of a series of articles penned by the Minister.

For your benefit and other myopic critics, she did highlight in earlier articles on the importance of engendering institutional frameworks to support future policy direction.

In response to your ill thought out theory about the BRICS- Block, can you share your notion of the current realities in those countries? You might want to reconsider the difference between conceptual models and the practical realities of modern economics.

*This article has clearly spelt out future economic direction. It will use public spending to stimulate growth. Is it risky? YES

But the minister has made an argument for the reasons for that strategy. I think it is strategic. Why do you feel it isnt?

otil1:



Nothing in the article is revolutionary or strategic ane u want Fp.

Can this administration mention one new initiative pls.

Everything is copy, paste and rename. E.g. YES which is an adulterated version of Youwin.

I don dey tire

It is pointless making a general statement without highlighting specifics

Why do you think the policies espoused in the article are not strategic?

Where did she copy it from?

Criticism should come with facts and shouldnt be based on sentiments

Fedayeen:
plz point out the errors there or remain silent

If after reading the questions and you have not identified error/s, then you need to go and beg your parents for wasting their money on your education.

Thank me later

PDP is not ashamed for destroying every fabric of development in Nigeria for 16 years

This party should conduct a serious soul searching and total reorganization and stop doing Twitter opposition

They should be ashamed of themselves.

Intellectual show off

Even the questions are awash with grammatical errors

Very robust analysis and sets a well thought out strategy to solve Nigeria's economic problems

God Bless Kemi


God bless PMB

God bless Nigeria

chrisandy100:
When you get a quarter you put it in the piggy bank. The piggy bank is on a shelf in your closet. Your mom knows this and she checks on it every once in a while, so she knows when you put more money in or spend it.

Now one day, you might decide "I don't want mom to look at my money." So you go over to Johnny's house with an extra piggy bank that you're going to keep in his room. You write your name on it and put it in his closet. Johnny's mom is always very busy, so she never has time to check on his piggy bank. So you can keep yours there and it will stay a secret.

Now all the kids in the neighborhood think this is a good idea, and everyone goes to Johnny's house with extra piggy banks. Now Johnny's closet is full of piggy banks from everyone in the neighborhood.

One day, Johnny's mom comes home and sees all the piggy banks. She gets very mad and calls everyone's parents to let them know.

Now not everyone did this for a bad reason. Eric's older brother always steals from his piggy bank, so he just wanted a better hiding spot. Timmy wanted to save up to buy his mom a birthday present without her knowing. Sammy just did it because he thought it was fun. But many kids did do it for a bad reason. Jacob was stealing people's lunch money and didn't want his parents to figure it out. Michael was stealing money from his mom's purse. Fat Bobby's parents put him on a diet, and didn't want them to figure out when he was buying candy.

Now in real life, many very important people were just caught hiding their piggy banks at Johnny's house in Panama. Today their moms all found out. Pretty soon, we'll know more about which of these important people were doing it for bad reasons and which were doing it for good reasons. But almost everyone is in trouble regardless, because it's against the rules to keep secrets no matter what. 

Reference: http://www.techinsider.io/why-the-panama-papers-matter-according-to-redditors-2016-4?utm_content=bufferc523e&utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook.com&utm_campaign=buffer

OP

Why did you plagiarise this article and did not make the necessary attribution?

This article was lifted from the Guardian, copy and pasted on a blog without proper referencing

Cc: Seun Lalasticlala

Please change the source to:

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/apr/05/how-to-explain-offshore-banking-and-when-it-is-naughty-to-a-5-year-old

scribble:
Femi is a monumental idiot


A shame of a Yoruba man

It is your father that is a shame to you and your generation

Wailing wailer

Are you angry you lost your job at Premium Times?

enitanpopoola:
I will never make the same mistake again!

What mistake?

U are a wailer and a Buhari hater so stop the lies

PhockPhockMan:



Wait o o, how does this letter translate into begging. So many illiterates in nairaland.


NgeneUkwenu, dia is God o o.

God help us

Imagine phockphockman calling others illiterate



Na wa o

MrAdetunjiBayo:


Chai this guy wicked.....No be small. Kikikikikikiki. Wetin Presido-Dullard and him zombies do you?

Collynzo u still dey?

Lolzzzz

This old man with tribal marks

You are always blabbing

tomakint:

Your good morning should be for the APC goons and as many who voted in Buhari not to me buddy. besides it is evening here.

tomakint:

My brother you have said the whole truth.... I only pity the gullible ones here especially from the "sophisticated Southwest" who fell like zombies for the "Chibok Girls Scam" 2019 please come quickly because I don't see APC surviving beyond their demonic lies just grab power at the centre.

The older you get, the more idiotic your utterances

So can you explain the video of the girls released by Boko Haram?

And why do you have to insult Yorubas every time?

omohayek:


Yes, Japanese society is cohesive alright - I've actually lived there and can attest to that at first hand - but another way of interpreting that is "conformist", often-times stiflingly so. Japan is also a rapidly aging society with an ever-shrinking working/fighting age population, bordered by such "friendly" countries as China, North Korea and Russia, all of which it has disputes with.

Another interesting point you have raised. I think that China just beat Japan at its own game. Japan was one of the first countries to engage the American hegemony of production. They focused on innovation, quality management and lower cost of goods relative to western products and services.

China took advantage of globalization and concentrated on low cost mass production.

abbey621:


Good points but all these things work hand in hand. Diversification is a starting point in order to reduce our over dependence on oil which ultimately contributes to our importation syndrome. Infrastructure comes next with the stabilization of electricity and a more reliable transportation system, this will attract local and international companies to invest more in talents capable of delivering the technologies of tomorrow. For what's the use of training our university students in the latest technology when electricity, hunger, poverty and so on limits their potential

Bro I agree with you.

In the short term, there needs to be less reliance on oil

We have to get the fundamentals right. Inadequate electricity provision is a great problem. This is an area that continues to stifle economic growth and investment.

Interesting that you mention transportation. I went through Nigeria's commitment to reduce GHGs by 40% in the next 15 years which they submitted before the COP summit at Paris. The document suggests that they will create multi modal transport systems focusing on rail for both freight and passenger transport and also heavy investment in public transportation. All good on paper but as we all know, the problem is implementation.

omohayek:


The thing is, old people who fully own their homes and are done raising their children aren't going to be doing much active consuming. Without a baby boom or an increase in immigration, nothing Japan does will change the overall picture, devaluation or otherwise.

You are correct. Japan's insular perspective is a major flaw

They might also argue that it has enabled them to maintain a cohesive society.

abbey621:


When I say restriction on exports I meant our dependence on oil. We need to restrict this and force diversification. Imports I'm not worried about because when compared to other countries Nigeria still ranks average on imports and our imports are mainly for things we could grow locally such as tomato paste, rice and so on. When we diversify and look into other natural resources our economy automatically becomes stronger like it was in the 1960s and 70s. For example, what ever happened to the export of palm oil, cocoa and tomatoes? Now that Oil is inching closer to $20 per barrel, it makes sense to look into alternatives before it is too late. Devaluation would only give us a false sense of hope and security, it would only prolong the inevitable doomsday!

Ok I get you now.

I agree that diversification is crucial. However, diversification to what? Commodities? It will lead to the same problem in future if there is fall in price. With the world economy gradually embracing sustainability and reduction in fossil fuels, a focus in solid minerals will have consequences in the long term. You mentioned agric products, this is a good point but we still import some of our food commodities so an increase in domestic production will at best reduce imports and fill the domestic demand gap.

I will opine that Nigeria focuses on technology, manufacturing and gradually graduate to a smart economy. I was reading an article earlier, the author explained that if Mark Zuckerberg was Nigerian, his facebook project would have failed because of the export oriented syndrome of Nigerians. Nigerians are not patient and do not allow local businesses to improve the value of their products over time.

They may be Islamists and trouble makers but The Saudis are already thinking ahead. In the last 10 years, they have invested billions of dollars in IT and their Universities, especially STEM courses to increase their competitiveness. A lot of R& D activities are going on in the country. I'm not too sure what the outcome will be but they are making an effort.

Nigeria is blessed with talents, locally and internationally. I dont see any reason why we cannot engage in innovation which incidentally might not require as much capital as investments in oil exploration or solid minerals.

omohayek:


Japan's economic problems have nothing to do with devaluation, and everything to do with Japan's aging demographics. The ratio of retirees to working-age Japanese continues to expand, while the total population has been in decline for the last few years. Fewer workers means that even though productivity per worker increases, total output may not expand correspondingly.

It is a contributory factor, at least a precursor to the challenge of an aging population.

The devaluation of the Yen helped them to improve competitiveness and gain a comparative advantage to their competitors a la S.Korea etc. It however changed the economic dynamics, the Japanese became a low consumption and high saving economy- which means the country cannot stimulate its economy by domestic demand. Additionally, other innate causes include the heavily bureaucratic nature of governance of the economy.

abbey621:
Devaluation has and will always be a scam. Even in countries like China and South Africa it never works out as these countries are having to devalue their currencies over and over again, in the end sound economic policies and a restriction on exports while diversifying the economy is the way to go. If the price of Oil increased all the way to $60 or $80 per barrel nobody would be talking about devaluation, this is the biggest evidence that the whole thing is a scam!

On imports you mean?

I do understand your skepticism. Japan embarked on a series of devaluation of the Yen in other to make its exports cheaper, while that policy worked, it created another problem. It led to stagnation in the domestic economy and they have not recovered after so many years. Right now, the Japanese economy is bleeding heavily and its market suffering losses in value

On the other hand, in theory, devaluation can help to stimulate the export economy, my problem is how it is managed in Nigeria.

Good points

However, the writer failed to mention that devaluation of a currency when it is not accompanied with increase in wages leads to a fall in Purchasing Power Parity which means that consumers have to be pay more for goods and services.

I also disagree with his notion on imports. He has made a lot of assumptions that are unproven i.e. the exact amount of total imports when we factor in unrecorded import activities. We have an import problem and curtailing them through restrictions while encouraging domestic production will solve the export problem he rightly identified.

LordAdam:


I understand your point that capital expenditure stimulates the economy. The fact is that in a normal society it is the ultimate solution. But as I have said, in Nigeria the impact is very low because of the nature of governance and how the country operates. The $15b on power spent by OBJ should get Nigeria at least 10,000 MW. It got Nigeria around 2000 MW if you minus the fact that we had 1000 MW at 1999 when OBJ entered government and that by 2005 when we left we were hovering around 3000 MW. The Chinese Three Gorges Dam cost $26b and produced 22,000 MW.

Capital projects are the milking cows of the politicians in power. So you cannot say they leave much impact compared to recurrent expenditure. We should not just look at textbook economics, look at the reality in Nigeria. Adapt what the textbook says with the reality on ground to make your assertion. Recurrent expenditure pays Nigerians directly 100%. Our fathers, mothers, uncles, aunts, cousins...

Over 50% of capital expenditure goes to the top 1% (politicians, their cronies, and dishonest civil servants). In the end, the completed capital projects are nothing to write home about, there is zero provision for maintenance, and no questions are asked.

To solve the quagmire, we need accountability. The US has a parastatal called the Government Accountability Office that reports to Congress. If you receive $10m in a budget, you would show how it was used, then your spending will be checked to know if you spent the money right or if there are ways to get something better for less.

Nigeria has nothing like that. The government just spends like it has a blank check or something. We cannot afford to wait for 4 or 8 years or 16 years for a president or party to go out of power for wastages are uncovered. Even worse, only wastages by those who have opposing political ties. We should uncover wastages as they happen like we all do in our SMEs, family, and personal finances.

About federalism, the confab report has virtually all that we need to go forward. The whole country met and adopt a solution to move forward, that is the direction we should take. All of the intricacies will be sorted out once we accept that it is the next route to take. Series of commissions and forums of experts will be consulted and formed to make it as smooth a process as possible.

About corrupt politicians, I do not agree with you. Politicians are very fluid creatures. They move with the tide. If a Nigerian politician goes to the US, he will siphon money through invisible projects, if he does that he wouldn't last a quarter of a year. Rather, he will adopt the US system of taking huge money from companies under the legalized lobbying system and then pursue the interests of his/her backers in the government. Vice versa for a US politician.

If the system does not encourage it, it would be very difficult for the politicians to wave their wands. Case in point is the budget. We have always had budget of yams in this country, but when APC came in with the notion of change and still reverted to the old methods, they faced outcry from the public and political enemies to make them retrace their steps. Change the system, change the way things happen. It is the law of natural selection, whoever does not conform will not stand the test of time.

About the people that can enact the changes, I can assure you as an intellectual that they are many, each being an individual torch. We have the 7th largest population in the world, one of the top 10 highest recipient of remittances (Nigerians abroad sent home $24b last year, our budget was $23b), and Nigerian intellectuals occupy esteemed positions in public and private institutions around the world from the US to the UK to Russia. The right people are out there. The insects of the night always come from the shadows when a light bulb comes on. It is dark now, very dark, that is why you can't see them.

The system makes a mess of the technocrats that enter, like it did to the founding fathers of pan-Africanism. A Diezani who oversaw one of the most prosperous periods for Shell Nigeria is very different from the Diezani as Minister of Petroleum. Same thing for NOI (World Bank versus Ministry of Finance), Soludo, Sanusi, Ezekwesili (VP World Bank Africa versus being a minister under OBJ)...

-Lord

Hmmmm very salient points

I agree that there has to be an institutional reform. A change in mentality! But can we achieve this in Nigeria?

For instance, even if a dunce is elected as the President of America, they have an institutional framework that will ensure that there is a minumum standard of effective governance.

Successful countries in the West have long term blueprints/national plans that will largely remain the same irrespective of the ideology of the government of the day. Their might be minor tweaks but the overall long term objectives remain the same.

We have great minds all over the world. A lot of Nigerians doing exploits, but you said it yourself , as long as the system is broken, they will revert to the prevailing culture.

How do we change the system?

NavierStokes:


Doesn't automatically mean, but the odds are skewed in their favour. Think probability, and the chances are higher for a harvard graduate to succeed in administration than the man who forges and brandishes an unverified certificate. (No offence to our present administrator)

Agreed but dont politicize your own thread. I dont know the administrator that forged and presented an unverified certificate. Can you mention him or her pls?

A woman with a degree from Harvard/MIT, arguably the best universities in the world was in charge of the country's public finances for around 7-8 years. What was the outcome?

Leadership is about vision, commitment and personal integrity. The leaders that transformed China never went to conventional educational institutions. Good leadership is driven by ideology and focus

sarutobie:

He he he he he he he he don't make me laugh bro! I told you that Nigeria is a country birthed in anomalies and you want a Harvard degree holder to do what? Isn't it the same Nigeria were the said educated and professors trouped behind one with a "NEPA certificate"(whatever that means)..

The fact is that Nigeria has never has never had a well educated leader

And a Harvard/Cambridge qualification does not automatically mean they will be good leaders or administrators

Excuses sir

You should have restructured the agencies immediately you assumed power

Start working sir.

LordAdam:


Fortunately, you are getting the point NavierStokes is making (Big Shoutout to NavierStokes).

Nigeria does not have one problem. It is impossible to pinpoint the root cause of our problem.

If you say the size of government is the problem, then you should know two things:
1. Reducing the size of the government will drive up the unemployment rate
2. There will be reduced government spending which should stimulate the economy. Recurrent expenditure stimulates Nigeria's economy even better than capital expenditure (because capital expenditure are bloated [OBJ paid $14m per km for a project that actually costs $4m per km], the bulk of the expenditure goes out of the country [Julius Berger, Chinese construction agencies], and some part of it is looted outside by those in charge [civil servants and politicians])

Nigeria has many problems and it is actually up to intellectuals to have a debate on which is the original problem.

To give you an idea, let's do a concise roundup of our current situation:

1. There is strong ethnic, religious, and regional divide in the country.
2. We have a culture that does not promote accountability (if you can do some projects in your tenure, no one cares about the amount spent, the loans taken, the repayment process of the loan, who performed the project [local versus international companies], if due process was followed...)
3. We have a short-sighted polity that are not willing to make the hard choice, they all want easy money in the short-term
4. The Nigerian people have chronic amnesia and do have heavily flawed conception of how a country is supposed to operate (for example, people just look at no savings under GEJ and assume only wastefulness caused it, even after protesting against subsidy removal that had us spending up to N1t annually, and even forgetting that college students stayed at home for several months because lecturers were demanding increase in pay of over 30%, or that consultants in our hospitals now earn about 50% of what the Inspector General of Police earns)

For me, the first step to resolving our problem is to change our style of governance. It has not worked in 16 years, it is not working in the 9 months since a change in government and from current outlook, it will never change. Adopt true federalism. It will greatly eliminate the huge religious, ethnic, and regional divide (people will be less concerned about the ethnicity of a federal appointee and more on the qualifications of the appointee aka death of federal charter). It will also make people hold the state and local governments more accountable and shift most of the work out of the federal government. The FG utilizes 55%, the state government get 45%. Even if the FG performs averagely, if the states perform well, the average Nigerian will have a relatively better standard of living. This will also take off more power from the center and ultimately lead to increased and sustainable diversification of the economy.

If we choose to continue in this our failed system of governance, we would not make any major headway. The infrastructural deficit in this country is more what the government can solve. Under PDP we invested around $20b in electricity to produce 4000 MW. Under the military, virtually same amount was invested for 1000 MW. Nigeria needs around 100,000 MW. Even with the privatization, it will take us over a decade to get uninterrupted power supply around the country if things go well. Anyone telling you otherwise is playing politics with your future and that of your children. We all know how critical electricity is to the economy of the country.

I've gone long enough. The fact is that it is futile to discuss how to make this country better, because the people who know how to make the country better and have the will to are not in positions of authority and will never be supported by the simpletons in the Nigerian populace.

-Lord

Excellent points

I dont agree with your view on recurrent vs capital expenditure but good points

Restructuring the civil service may lead to unemployment in the short term but in the long run, it will be better for the country. Once the govt embarks on more capital projects, there will be need for sub-contractors and different layers of suppliers. If the govt institutes a local content strategy, then it will benefit the local economy.

Your point about federalism is valid but no one has explained how it will work i.e. sharing formular etc, will there be a need to change the current structure of the country? i.e. States vs Regions?

And as long as we still have corrupt politicians, they will steal and under-deliver even in the system you are advocating for.

Your last point is quite interesting Lord.

The fact is that it is futile to discuss how to make this country better, because the people who know how to make the country better and have the will to are not in positions of authority and will never be supported by the simpletons in the Nigerian populace.

Can you give us example of these people? Me never see one ooo

Buhari has an infectious smile/laughter

I trust Daddy Adeboye. A friend to every President

May God help us in this country

Lets hope the Gates of Hell crooner - Daddy oledepo will not also make an appointment to see Buhari soon

Buhari has an infectious smile/laughter

I trust Daddy Adeboye. A friend to every President

May God help us in this country

Lets hope the Gates of Hell crooner - Daddy oledepo will not also make an appointment to see Buhari soon

cc: Lalasticlala Happy Bye day sir

fabulouskeem:


thanks for the compliment

I have observed how you have responded to all the posts. U have handled them very well

You are a very matured young man. A well brought up Yoruba man

I wish you and your girl well

NavierStokes:


Godbless you brother, now we are in sync. I had spent the past few weeks reading the book by Martin Meredith: The state of Africa: a history of the continent since independence. There you will find out why virtually ever african country failed, the root cause i did identify was the overbloated and inefficient civil service. These were overbloated because the governments or ruling parties saw it as a means of patronage, where they compensate their followers and subjects with apoointments to score political points. Imagine cases of offices with several employed typists but only one functional typewriter etc.

Lets be honest If the government is a privately owned organization, will we have the type and quality of workforce we see today, or will service delivery and output be as seen today? Hell no.

Reduce the size of the recurrent expenditure, create an enabling environment so the bulk of those people can be on the private sector, focus on building infrastructure and watch the entrepreneurial spirit spring up among the citizens.

This also translates into increased output and ultimately a stronger value of the currency.

God bless you too

I agree that the over bloated nature of the civil service in Africa is a key problem , however I think the key word you used in"inefficient".

The majority of the civil service workforce in Nigeria lack the capacity to create any meaningful output. The causes range from lack of qualifications, experience and most especially, the systemic corruption embedded in the civil service.

Btw, The US, UK and France have very large civil service structures too but what they have been able to achieve is to reduce inefficiencies and improve their processes. The patronage you mentioned in your post is also very prevalent in the West- it is known as the "jobs for the boys". Where they have an advantage is that they have a culture based on continuos improvement.

For Nigeria, I think we have far too many MDAs. A lot of them duplicating responsibilities. A lot of those paratatals have to go and the government should restructure the entire civil service.

The problem we will have is the consequences from Labour Unions and even the general public. There will be public outcry and I dont think most governments will not want to risk it

NavierStokes:


First Oil prices started dropping in june 2014 and couldnt have been up to $157. In fact never gotten to that amount (peaked $145.85). Secondly we shouldn't be talking about oil prices and GEJ's tenure. Google "global gdp and oil price", and you will realize that both graphs have exactly the same trend from point to point. This arbitrarily put means a babangida selling oil prices for $15/bbl would have purchased Mercedes benz cars at 100000naira compared to a GEJ selling oil at $100/bbl and buying same mercedes benz cars at 15million naira.

Obj started of on a budget of about billion and based on his benchmark price of crude which fottunately witnessed a price increase, could afford to save in the eca or increase reserves. GEJ had budgets of ober 4 trillion plus leakages that hadn't been plugged by successive administrations this oul was not even enough to fund his budget. Take a lool at minimum wages he paid, or corpers allowances plus crude theft then consider the budget of 2016 predicated on 38$/bbl.


If we do a rough maths, $38/bbl makes a contribution of 860billion to the 2016 budget. Scale up both figures by 3 and what do you have, a $114/bbl benchmark (unrealistic) would have contributed a value of 2.58trillion on a budget of over 4 trillion. So do you see that even using all the oil sales proceeds to fund his budget would have still left him with a huge deficit.
Ps: (this Illustration is just an overtly simplistic calculation).

Good analysis, however, after you have identified the trend/problem, it will be nice for you to proffer solutions as well.

I think Nigeria's problem is based on the size of government which leads to high recurrent expenditure. (im not sure, I think it forms over half of total expenditure)= unsustainable

If these successive administrations streamlined size of the government, then maybe it would have freed more funds for capital projects . This would have been more beneficial in the long run

Happy Birthday

Lalasticlala

Have a great day

NavierStokes:


You miss the point brother, successive administrations from independence till date must share the blame.

Agreed

However, after the return to democratic governance in 1999, there was hope that things will change

And remember that under GEJ, oil prices rose to +$100 bp. It was as high as $157 in November 2014

All squandered