Nigeria’s Rise To The Bottom By Toyin Dawodu

I saw a headline last night on one of my favorite business websites, Forbes.com. It read:

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 “Nigeria Rising: The Woman behind the Nation’s Economic Turnaround.”

Nigeria Rising. Is it?

I think perhaps Steve Forbes got this one wrong. From where I and millions of other Nigerians sit, the disintegration of Nigeria rages on as Nigeria’s leaders continue to sweet talk, double-talk and bamboozle its citizens.

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I’ve been a reader of Forbes magazine since my college days and I still consider Forbes a trusted source of global business information. I always found time to pick through the various opinions and insights of the late Malcolm Forbes before his death in 1990. Later, I reserved the same level of attention and journalistic reverence for his son, Steve Forbes, the magazine’s current Editor-in-Chief. These days, I don’t seek out his opinion like I did in years past, but I still read Forbes.  So when I found Steve Forbes’ interview with Nigerian Finance Minister Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, I was interested. The interview was disguised as an op-ed.

In the article, Forbes referred to the Minister’s work as the head of Finance an “economic miracle.”  Even the World Bank will beg to differ.

What economic miracle is this?

Is it the 170 million Nigerians that live in darkness? Is it the 50% unemployment rate amongst Nigeria’s 40 million youth? Coincidentally, a remnant of youths are now earning their living by kidnapping members from well-off families and holding them for ransom. Is that fact included as part of this economic miracle?

Maybe it’s the unverified 8% inflation rate which the average citizen knows is more like 15%? Is it the fact that the world’s 8th largest exporter of oil has its own citizens lining up for days just to fill their tanks because they live in a country where there is a constant shortage of petrol? There isn’t even enough gas for the country to generate its own electricity. And has anyone located the missing $20 billion in oil revenue that even the woman behind the so-called economic miracle can’t seem to find?

Is it the fact that there is no running water in Nigeria, and only a handful of paved roads where traffic officers double as unauthorized toll collectors and freely shake down poor citizens? Is it the fact that a country that had no debt just a few years ago now has a growing domestic debt at oppressive interest rates? And who is looking into these claims that the same banks being used to warehouse the government’s money turn around and charge 12-14% interest when it’s time for the government to borrow money?

Tell me again, Mr. Forbes, what is Madam Minister’s claim to fame besides wrecking the Nigerian economy and spilling propaganda from her lips? Nigerian citizens, civil society groups in Nigeria and the National Assembly of Nigeria have all come forward to challenge Nigeria's economic minister, demanding she provide proof of all the jobs she claimed to have created since she became minister.

So far, the only proof offered by the minister is the propagation of words across the globe of 27,000 jobs created by doling out money to a few lucky winners of a business competition? Is this how jobs are created in advanced economies?

Wonder of wonders, how do you create sustainable jobs in a country where businesses barely get two hours of electricity a day. Most businesses spend, on average, 20% of their revenue generating power and producing their own water. I am curious to know how much research Mr. Forbes actually conducted on the Honorable Minister before Okaying this headline for publication.

For the sake of argument, let’s say Nigeria is rising. The question now becomes: For whom? Is Nigeria rising for foreign investors who make a killing on Nigerian's sovereign bonds? These same investors reap huge financial benefit by investing in Nigeria’s stock market, the same stock market led by the banks that warehouse the government’s money then lend it back to them at phenomenally high interest rates.

In Nigeria, banks bask in the richness of their profits, yet refuse to lend to business in the private sector, leaving Nigerian companies to languish and toil for years without ever having the opportunity to positively impact the economy by creating real jobs. Nigeria’s Minister of Finance is an under-performer. Yet Mr. Forbes has found some virtue and value in her work. He is clearly not Nigerian.

Here are some real facts about the Nigerian economy since Ms. Okonjo-Iweala took over the management of Nigeria's economy in 2010:
 

1. Unemployment has increased year over year, and currently at stands at 23%.

2. Interest rate for business loans has remained at 20-35% for the last four years.

3. Nigeria's electricity supply has decreased from 4,000 megawatts to about 2,800, in a country of 170 million. To put this in perspective, Los Angeles has a population of about 4 million people and generates over 7,000 megawatts. Nigeria has spent more than $9 billion to generate electricity and for what? Two hours of power a day?

4. According to the recently suspended central bank governor, between $10 billion, or is it $20 billion went missing from the treasury on Madam Minister’s watch. We don’t know how much is missing, but there are billions missing for sure. How do you siphon $10 billion from a pocketbook and your head of finance cannot say where it went?

5.  Nigeria's debt service has risen to 20% since the Honorable Minister took over the management and co-ordination of Nigeria's economy.

6.  Nigeria's domestic debt has risen from $35 billion to $44.3 billion since the honorable minister came into office.

7. Over $12 billion was expended for fuel subsidy under the watchful eyes of Madam Minister, yet Nigerians can't seem to get their hands on petrol for their automobiles or kerosene to cook their food.

8. Nigeria is ranked 120th out of 148 countries in Global competitiveness index.

9. According to the World Bank, over 100 million Nigerians are living in absolute destitution.

10. According to the Nigerian Custom's Director General, Nigeria lost over $9 billion to fraudulent import waivers granted by the honorable minister between 2011 and 2013. These are waivers granted by Madam Minister to cronies. Nigeria's economic saboteurs disguise themselves as industrialists and rake in big bucks, while exploiting the people.

Even the casual observer can catalog a few of Nigeria's news headlines and see that despite the massive amounts of money being generated in Nigeria due to its oil fortunes, the economy is crumbling. Nigerians are struggling. It seems to me the true beneficiaries of these huge markets are foreign exploiters and a handful of well-protected Nigerian cohorts who do not could care whether or not their investments created any real jobs, stability, infrastructure or long term growth. As long as they are able to fatten their bank accounts or repatriate 20% return to their foreign private equity partners, damn everyone else!

So Mr. Forbes, the jury is still out on whether the Honorable Minister has any honor. But if you want a quick verdict, just go to the streets of any Nigerian city and poll the people lined up for hours daily to buy overpriced kerosene with which they can cook dinner for their families. Just ask the average business owner to tell you the last time he got a loan from a bank and the interest rate. You will find a much different truth that Nigerians live every day.

The familiar motto of Forbes Magazine rings in my head: "With all thy getting, get understanding.”

Maybe Steve Forbes should do just that.

Toyin Dawodu is a Nigerian wondering why his country does not have electricity.

 

The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect the editorial policy of SaharaReporters

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