GETTING OUT OF DEPRESSING TIMES
Victor C. Ariole urges the authorities to do things right
The Central Banker’s management of the nation’s external reserves is no different from the management of the finances of a firm or the individual. A company that persistently incurs more expenses than receipts cannot stay long in business … A country cannot import more than it exports on a permanent basis – Alhaji Abdulkadir Ahmed, former CBN Governor
From spatial and physical insurgencies, Nigeria should avoid facing financial insurgency like it happened during Buhari and Babangida military era. It was a time Nigeria experienced the explosion of banks, finance houses and financial institutions and the military fraternized very well with banking oligarchs to siphon Nigeria’s money abroad and it never mattered as many young Nigerians also found themselves getting employed in such institutions no matter what they studied in school. To the CBN governor then, the Manufacturers Association ought to bear the brunt of weak receipt.
It was also a period when the manufacturing industries were in total doldrum as the then CBN governors, Alhaji Abdulkadir Ahmed and Paul Ogwuma, were just interested in good relationship with the military heads of state – Major General Buhari and General Babangida; the former nicknamed “no-nonsense” General and the latter nicknamed “Maradona”. “No-nonsense” was concerned with human beings and how to inflict pain on those who fail to relate with his own personal neuronal network that abhors capitalist approach to wealth acquisition and prefers the easiest way of trade by barter – no tact, no diplomacy no turnanci; just obey the order as imposed by “War Against Indiscipline;” even when the leader himself thrives in financial indiscipline, making the central banker look stupid as it disconnects with its own main function of relating effectively with receipts of the Federation seen also in its reserve and its expenses, seen in how the leadership manages internal well being of the people in its fiscal probity; and fiscal probity was completely lacking as the people were left on their own to operate effectively in the informal sector making the leaders and the CBN governor both pariahs among them, as well as already declared pariah in the “civilised world” of World Bank and IMF. It was a period when the well known 419ers, commercial banks, and black marketers in Nigeria operated in great opacity as Major General Buhari who thought, then, that changing the colour of the naira will sink the wealth of his perceived personal enemies who were mostly the great patrons of the existing 29 banks; and, at the end, the poor masses became the victims as their naira in banks depreciated further, as it is always the case in Nigeria; premium appreciation for the “Big Men” and discounted value for the poor masses. The same just happened again.
On that, Buhari missed it completely as it happened in his second coming as President Mohammadu Buhari, inflicting great pains on Nigerians as the Big Men thrived in dollars.
Latching on Buhari’s ignorance General Babangida declared himself a “better leader” with what was known as “There is no alternative” to structural adjustment programme aka TINA. He sold out Nigerian owned banks to his cronies who are the rich men of today’s Nigeria and allowed more banks to be licenced, as it became valuable, in an economy that was not of interest to a structured world economy, that leaves out a marginal economy like that of Nigeria out of its radar, especially as a pariah nation then; merely surviving on an informal platform. Foreign exchange sourcing by willing and eager manufacturers then, was mostly outside the CBN platform, as 419ers, black market transactions thrived to an extent that Babangida himself wondered why the economy under his watch was still thriving amidst all evils committed against it.
Naira was finding its value at the black market space while CBN was helping the treasury looters to launder Nigeria’s collective wealth in offshore and tax haven climes at a premium value in favour of the “Big men” favoured by the then military leaders. Babangida liberalized everything including corruption and wondered why the economy was not collapsing, just like his maradonic performance seemed to score goals that baffled the world referees of World Bank and IMF that he was invited to a state visit by United Kingdom; and no doubt as per the intention of UK: “keep on doing what you are doing as it was greatly helping the UK economy”. UK, known to be the financial capital of the world and its enormous link with offshore banking and tax haven climes of this world. Of course financial intelligence must have been dribbled to confusion with huge resources of Nigerians laundered, oiling the economy of the rich countries. Dateline: 29th May 2023, is Nigeria back to it again, from Buhari to a new brand Babangida?
Nigeria must avoid that. There is no doubt that the neuronal disposition of Babangida remains of greater plasticity than that of Buhari; that is, more accommodating and adaptable, as Babangida was a better programmer than Buhari; and it is expected that such neuronal disposition be better reprogrammed now for Nigeria to do better than Babangida era and block the slacks that went with Babangida’s neuronal network and insert valuable modes in the slacks to reach a surface output or outcome that could make Nigerians see a brighter moments out of the dark tunnel. Yes, no matter the plan put in place, the outcome should make Nigerians see good in it.
In this era of Artificial Intelligence, such network programming must be worked out to save Nigeria from turning to Ghana that had to be rescued by J. J. Rawlings twice – first, from the military of Akuffo in 1979 and from the civilian government of Limann in 1981. Nigeria must avoid such pathway of rulership, hence like cedi that tumbled to over 10000% depreciation, let naira be stabilised now – before it gets out of hand.
Ariole is a
Professor of French and Francophone Studies,
University of Lagos
