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Vision 20/20: The Scanty Mantra

October 9, 2009

The most bothersome, vexatious, irksome and even more provoking of the Nigerian vision 20/20 dream is not at all the nearness of year 2020, but the mediocrity, in-ept, maladroit and the lumpish attitude with which the present day government has overtly and covertly handled the economy over the last few years.


To further exacerbate my growing irritation, President Yardua on his independent day speech chewed the mantra vision 20/20 in his mouth as though, his government were prepared and is giving it all it takes to achieve the lofty dream. Sadly, for a government that cannot provide basic electricity, water, road and food, is it not excessively overambitious to dream to be one of the best countries in the world by 20/20?

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The vision 20/20 dream started when in 2005; Goldman Sachs published a journal about the 'BRIC' (Brazil, Russia, India and China) as the four emerging economies which will take the global centre stage in the next coming years, and then added the N-11’s (The Next 11) as the next set of economies after the BRIC which could be reckoned with in the next coming years if certain growth measures are maintained and crucial policies are implemented.

http://www2.goldmansachs.com/ideas/brics/book/BRICs-Chapter11.pdf

For Nigeria, Goldman Sachs then projected that, IF economic growth would be sustained and there is serious fight against corruption, while the government of Nigeria remains open and there is adequate provision of infrastructure, a heavy flow of FDI would help the economy to provide jobs and increase its per-capita income and GDP. Therefore becoming one of the top 20 economies in the world by 2025 with the opportunity of overtaking countries like Canada and Italy by 2045

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Awash with petrodollars, Nigeria during the administration of former president Olusegun Obasanjo rained in excess billions of dollars from the petrol boom and thus felt that with more money to embark on more infrastructural projects, pay debts, provide amenities and so on, Nigeria could have a more impressive growth rate than 4% per annum as projected by Goldman Sachs as the required growth level to become a global giant by 2025. Following this trend, president Obasanjo and professor soludo of the CBN started and commissioned the economic team which brought forward the vision 20/20 idea. For this team: Nigeria can be where Goldman Sachs projects us to be even five years earlier.

Genuinely, the idea of vision 20/20 was a noble cause, sensible and realistic since, Nigeria was growing at an impressive growth rate of 5-5-6-5% between 2005 and 2007, further more, there was genuine anti corruption fight, even if it was politically motivated, per capita income of Nigerians rose and there was huge foreign direct investment flow, all this factors were in concert to make the vision 20/20 a lofty goal that was to be achieved and reckoned with.

Until in 2007, when growth rate tumbled, per capita income reversed, oil production was cut, anti corruption war was stopped and stock market began crashing, Nigeria was an investment cynosure in Sub-Saharan Africa by global institutional investors and infact I’ve read times over again and again how the financial times of London and the wall street journal of US, have dedicated their top pages for investment opportunities and potentials in Nigeria.

Since president Yardua has undone most of the milestones and efforts of former president Obasanjo and reversed many of his well intended economic policies, the rest about vision 20/20 in the Yardua administration is just a crumb, a small boy’s game, a political slogan and an unwarranted mantra by incompetent ministers, governors and commissioners who have no slightest idea of what vision 20/20 entails nor how to achieve a slight part of the required development, deep down in the marrow of their bones, corrupt and culprits of the 7 deadly sins of strategy, ( complacency, conceit, convention, over-reliance on experience, allowing budget to dictate path, substituting planning for thinking and lacking strategic purpose).

For me, vision 20/20 is just a political mantra and achieving it will be an economic miracle, a miracle whose audacity, I will stand to question, a miracle which will make Yardua the Jesus of the 21st century, a miracle which will mean that the principle of economics has changed and soteeeee elephant go dey born human being…..

Yardua wake up.......All we need is Power, Food, House, Water and Work.......Wake up...

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