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20-2020: the Fallacy Within or Without?

posted on Sunday, April 27, 2008 06:30 PM

Governments of responsible nations have the interest of their citizens and residents at heart; this is often reflected in her concentration in economic development rather than economic growth. According to Prof. J. U. Umoh, “economic development is a process of high degree of self – reliance sustained over a long period of time and associated with reduction in inequality gap, unemployment and poverty.” Economic development is increasing Gross National Production and engineering substantial positive structural transformation in various sectors of the economy as well as the improvement of different economic activities which will improve the welfare of the citizens.

Nigerian leaders have again adopted certain framework and standards that would not better the lives of her ordinary citizens but ensure that her ego is massaged in the international scene. Such as the high foreign reserve we are stacking while the average citizen is wallowing in abject poverty. With the sutra of Vision 20-2020 it appears to a none critical thinker that the whole problems which the average citizen of Nigeria seeks solutions such as, adequate food supply, good roads, housing, good health facilities, power and qualitative education are solved. The absence of basic indicators of economic development such as working and qualitative infrastructure which would grow infant industries as well as encourage people to engage in small and medium enterprises thereby increasing gross marginal production to the population, transparency which would ensure equitable distribution of resources, accountability, patriotism and good leadership which delivers good governance are all missing indices that would ensure economic development in Nigeria.

However, economic growth which the government of the day is trying to achieve through her set vision 2020 is a sustained increase in the productive capacity of the economy which gives rise in national income, but no increase in the welfare of the people. Suffice it to say that economic growth is usually not a good indicator of economic progress, although it is inevitable for economic development. Economic progress or development is usually characterized by the increase or positive change in the standard of living of the people.

Goldman Sachs’ report or prediction which is making Nigerian politicians and leaders jump on their feet with the ‘Halleluiah’ shout of victory must be examined excruciatingly to ensure that it bears in mind economic development. It may be right to predict that Nigeria would join the Asian Tigers and the western world economy in a short while because of the population of the country and her endowed mineral resources if tapped by the imperialists through the presence of their multinational companies in Nigeria. But the question still remains, how does all this affect the price of tomatoes in the market, how does this affect the life of a poor farmer in the hinter land, how does it affect the minimum wage, what positive effect those it have on our dualistic economy?

It is sad to be reminded that, today’s Nigerian economy is not controlled by Nigerians and so cannot embark on measures that can restructure it for proper development, that is why the likes of Goldman Sachs’ can give us a timetable and predict our success, this is because we are still caught in the trappings of neo – capitalist contradictions which has produced a distorted dominant capitalist class whose interest is not in the development of auto centric capitalist economy. Although, this does not deny the existence of a genuinely aspiring capitalist class of Nigerians whose struggle for survival is threatened by poor infrastructure and market dominance of multinational corporations.

The failure of various Nigerian governments to tackle economic problems with all manner of policy considerations ranging from green revolution, austerity measures to structural adjustments programme (SAP) and the recent implementation of privatization and commercialization policy, is based on the crucial resultant factor of the strategy in planning the economy as well as its implementation process, the process of planning hardly takes into consideration the masses, while ensuring that the monopolists and capitalists get richer through their control of the general resources of the people.

However, Brumaire of Louis Bonaparte (1848) Marx expressed the view that the state is an organ or institution which stands above all classes in the society and therefore subject to the dictation of none, this was Karl Marx’s analysis of the state in France amid 1848 – 1852 when Bonaparte emerged as a ruler in France. This means that the state lived above the people at this time. In planning the economy for development, there is supposed to be a direct representation of the entire citizenry - the youth, students, engineers, professors, market women, artisans etc. this is because, the state is above the few people who make the policies for the generality of the people without proper consultations.

Today, the administration of president Yaradua has released the 2008 budget, with so much allocated to the welfare and school fees of only 6,000 (six thousand) children and wards of public servants and politicians studying abroad, while a paltry sum is allocated for research and development of Nigerian universities with a minimum population of over 500,000 (five hundred thousand) students. Who is fooling who in this country? Yet we talk about attaining the millennium development goals, in the presence of paucity of data occasioned by poorly funded research. It is observed that developed nations attained development based on the fact that they accorded research a priority.

If truly, Marx’s expression that the nation is an organ which stands above all classes, and the Nigerian constitution’s subscription to equality of rights among citizens is practiced, then such huge amount of money should not be budgeted for a number that is not up to a fraction of the entire population of the scholars in Nigeria. How do we justify this unequal treatment in our quest to rid our society of Cybercrimes, fraud, corruption among other financial misconducts, by certain people in the society?

The way out of this is to engage ourselves in our own researched and suggested policy framework which is peculiar to our own environment. Let us shutout the IMF, World Bank and their likes in suggesting policies for us and look – in, to determine what is good for us and the approach we need to solve our problems. If we must embrace agricultural reforms, let us practice it the African way; let us keep out mechanization which is causing so many problems for us out of focus. This would help us develop our own technology for fast cultivation of farms, create more jobs in the society and help in the balance of trade through exportation of same.

Until we learn to glocalize, we would always have problems with our economy, and our economy would not only be in fiasco but would get worse than it is at present, so let all the drummers of vision 2020 go back to the drawing board and change their rhythm.



Mbasekei Martin Obono
Is a representative of the Youth Against Cybercrimes and Fruad In Nigeria.
martobono@gmail.com
08059198834

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