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A New Hope for Nigeria
Darren Whitfield, Press Writer, International News Agency
16 April 2027
It's a hot afternoon in downtown Lagos, and I'm in the
reception of of Stallion House to to see Adekunle Opadokun on my visit to
Nigeria. The receptionist tells me that he knows I'm around, and he will be
with me shortly. After a short wait, Joseph - a big, ebullient man wearing a
sharp suit and a hearty smile on his face - finally emerges from an adjoining
office, apologising for the delay as he does so. He ushers me into his office as
he explains the reason for the delay. "Meetings, meetings, meetings"
he says. There is a customer in Europe he is negotiating a deal with to for his
business to supply several thousand cartons of canned tomatoes. "It's
looking good... we should wrap everything up in a few days."
Joseph is one of the growing breed of businessmen who have
taken advantage of the remarkable changes that have occurred over the last
decade and a half - changes that have seen an unprecendented increase the
amount of wealth in the country. It is about these changes that I have come to
Lagos to get a sense of.
"Certainly, twenty years ago, it was a bad time to be a
businessman", Joseph explains. "To do business, you had to build your
own infrastructure - you had to install your own generator, buy water from
tankers and buy expensive all-terrain vehicles to drive on the road. You also
had to pay all kinds of arbitrary levies and taxes to all manner of people -
both government officials and hoodlums - if you wanted to get business done. It
was only the most hardened businessman that could cope in such an environment.
"But the new government we have had for over ten years
has shown a remarkable interest in the fortunes of businessmen - and I am not
just talking about the heads of conglomerates, I am talking about the people
who run small and medium enterprises. Nigerians have always had an
entrepreneurial spirit, but this has been stifled in the past by bad
leadership. It is only now that we see the right policies being enacted that we
can see this spirit coming into full bloom."
Indeed, most people could not have imagined that the
situation in Nigeria - once notorious for its corruption and its advance fee
fraud scams - would have changed to be what it is today. "The beginning of
the changes that we see today can be traced to round about early 2009",
says Chudi Onyeama, a political analyst based in Lagos. "At the time,
there were many people disillusioned with the lacklustre administration of
President Umaru Yar'Adua. People were still resentful of the illegalities
trailing his ascent to power. They accepted that his administration was not
going to be removed from power, even by the courts which had shown suprising
independence of spirit in overturning several state election. But they expected
him to recognise the illegitimacy of
his administration and compensate for this by striving to deliver a better
standard of living to Nigerian citizens.
"Unfortunately, President Yar'Adua seemed unable to make any
progress in doing this - largely because he was held hostage by the political
machine of the ruling People's Democratic Party which had dominated the
Nigerian political landscape for over a decade. So it was no surprise that in
early 2009, a group of politicians and businessmen came together to form the
Progressive Front of Nigeria. "It was a curious combination of
bedfellows", says Onyeama. "It was made up of two groups. One group
were politicians who had been largely excluded from the political process,
either because they were members of the largely ineffective opposition, or
because they were members of the ruling party that had been sidelined in the
struggle for power. The other group were made up of wealthy progressive
businessmen who were tired of the economic environment they were operating in
and who had lost faith in the government's abilities to deliver the right kind
of environment. This group consisted of people who were well-informed about
best business practices, and they would eventually turn out to be the
ideological engine of the party as well as providing financial support, while
the other group would provide the political know-how to drum up awareness and
support for the party.
"The approach of the PFN was a departure from how most
parties have operated in Nigeria. "From the outset, they were quite clear
that even though they had offices in all states of the federation as required
by the electoral commission, they were only going to focus on five or six key
states for now, including Lagos State - the most populous state in Nigeria",
continues Onyeama. "They were also very clear that they would have a
pro-business agenda - they wanted to create an environment where every artisan,
every trader, every industrialist felt that they could unleash their full
entrepreneurial talent and thus lift the nation out of poverty.
"So they started a massive publicity campaign in those
selected states well ahead of the 2011 elections to let everyone know about
them and their policies. They started raising various issues relating to the
difficulty of doing business. They sponsored various workshops on effective
business management, but they pitched these workshops at the man on the street.
In short, they set the agenda for discussion of the issues of the day and put
the PDP on the defensive so that by the time the elections came round, they had
built up so much credibility and such a following that it was going to be much
harder for the PDP to engage in the kind of intimidation that it had used in
the last election. In fact, many days before the election, the PFN had called
out all of its members and urged them to forcefully resist any attempt at
rigging. For their part, the PDP knew how hight the stakes were - if they were
seen to lose in those states, then it could portend their doom."
The world still recalls the events of that election; how
because of the saturation coverage by PFN supporters who not just videod the
voting process but also the counting of the ballots, it was obvious that the
PFN had swept all the states it contested in; how the electoral commission
declared a completely different set of results hours later on; and how the PFN,
in concert with civil society groups called for a strike that shut down the
nation for a week until the commission reversed some of its earlier announcements;
and how other announcements were later overturned by an increasingly
independent judiciary.
Onyeama goes on: "From that day on, even though it
would go on to win the presidential election and return President Yar'Adua for
a second term, the PDP was fatally damaged. In the meantime, the PFN forged
ahead in implementing some of its pro-business policies in the states it had
captured. The governments in these states invited private companies to bid to
take part in projects where they would be responsible for building and
maintaining arterial roads in the states in return for charging a toll for
motorists using the roads. They also invited private companies to bid to build
power plants - these plants would concentrate on supplying electricity
to commercial and industrial areas, as there were plans to widen the
distribution to residential areas if the PFN got into power nationwide.
However, it was not a straightforward affair - although there was a definite
improvement in the state of the roads, there were some companies that were
clearly not able to maintain their section of roads despite the money they were
collecting. To counter the public outcry, the governments in the states
affected had to introduce a policy which set minimum standards and which
penalised the companies if they did not meet these standards.
"The other policy that the PFN introduced was a reform
the state civil service and local governments. It realised that these were the
instruments through which the states would enact policy, so it was important to
get them working properly. It got its state governments to institute a
carrot-and-stick policy - they would improve working conditions, but they would
be tougher on corruption and inefficiency within the civil service. The reform
included better communication of the state's projects to members of the public
so that they knew exactly what projects the state governments were embarking on
and how far they had gone; the publication of details of contracts it had
awarded on the internet for everyone to verify; and the provision of means
through which members of the public could offer feedback on the civil service
and local government peformance, including through the phone and the internet.
Such feedback was collated and published on a regular basis. And in keeping
with its pro-business stance, it set up Special Business Bureaus affiliated
with the state Ministries of Commerce and Industries. These had the
responsibility to assist small and medium enterprises with setting up and
running their businesses, providing them with information and advice and
dealing with complaints.
"Of course, there were problems. There were many cases
where details of the published projects did not match what was on the ground -
and this was a major embarassment for the governments. But the good thing was
that these incidents were coming to light, and in some cases, those responsible
for the discrepancies were dismissed, and a few were even sentenced to jail.
Also, when the state governments published the feedback given by the public to
the civil service performance and this feedback turned out to be overly
favourable, there were very public criticisms. This forced the goverments to
co-opt independent groups in the collation and publication of the feedback.
Then there were complaints about the aggressive drive for tax and revenue
collection that was needed to pay for the improvement in civil service
conditions. And needless to say, there were still complaints about corruption
at high levels.
"But I think that the major point of all this was that
the PFN seemed to actually be doing something, even with the pitfalls that it
encountered along the way, and crucially, its actions seemed to be bearing some
fruit. In contrast, the PDP was struggling to keep up, following the PFN's lead
- but it was looking less and less like a party in power as the PFN leadership
began to look more and more like a government in waiting. So it was no surprise
when in the election of 2015, the PFN swept into power taking all but a few
states."
So it was that on May 29, 2015, President Idongesit Ukpong
of the PFN was sworn into office, the first ever president from the southern
minority region of Nigeria. One of the firs things his administration did was
to to complete the privatisation of the remaining government companies -
including the notoriously inefficient state electricity power companies - whose
sell-off had been stalled during Yar'Adua's administration. In addition, his
government began a reform of the judicial process in order to streamline procedures
to ensure faster delivery of justice, a reform of the police service which,
like the earlier state civil service reforms at state level, sought to change
the process of police investigation and improve the public image and conditions
of service for the police while cracking down hard on corrupt practices. But
the cornerstone of his administration remained encouraging the creation of
wealth and creating a business-friendly environment. There were two main
initiatives - the nationwide expansion of the programmes already showcased at
state level to involve private companies in the creation and maintenance of
infrastructure; and the strengthening of property rights by the reform of the
laws governing land use so that freehold title acquired by individuals and
corporations would be recognised in law, thus divesting the government of any
involvement in land ownership except for purposes of the environment and large
public works.
"It is impossible to overstate the change that the PFN
government has brought about by its policies. Before, people had very little
hope of change. Now most people feel much more confident about being able to
better their lot by their own efforts", enthuses Opadokun. "Many more
people are encouraged to go into business, and there are many more
opportunities for employment. Many people who would previously have embarked on
a life of crime are no longer as tempted because there are many less dangerous
and more socially acceptable ways of making a living. You can see, feel the
confidence in the air."
And the air of prosperity is certainly evident from a casual
observance during a stroll around downtown Lagos. The streets are a lot
cleaner, there are more shops selling the latest goods, and many more people
buying these goods. A rough straw poll gives the impression that people do feel
more confident about the future than they felt twenty years ago - there is
general agreement that the government has done a lot to improve the power supply
and road network in the country. They also feel much more secure than they did
back then.
But not everyone agrees with this assessment. "In fact,
this is an uncaring government for the rich", says Musa Kaltungo, a civil
society activist. "Inequality has widened faster under this government
than any other government in history. The government has done very little to
enhance the lot of the underprivileged. Education and health are still a
shambles - and apart from improving the conditions of the road network at great
cost to the road user, the government has done very little to introduce
efficient and integrated forms of transport. And most shameful of all, the
government has done very little to combat high-level corruption which continues
to thrive as it did twenty years ago".
The government is aware of these shortcoming, but says that
it is taking steps to address them. "We admit that in the first few years
of President Ukpong's administration, we have focused too heavily on encouraging
the growth of business to the detriment of areas like education, transport and
health", says James Iorfa, spokesperson for the administration of Eze
Okwechime, the successor to President Ukpong. "But the government's aim
has been to grow the tax base so that this administration can use the increased
revenue for education and health programs. Specifically, we plan to introduce
policies to encourage the private health insurers and health maintenance
organisations already operating in Nigeria to broaden coverage and reduce
premiums for more Nigerians, as well as spending money on state hospitals for
poorer Nigerians. And we plan to tighten standards on education as well as
introducing a voucher-based system which will allow parents more choice in
which school they send their children to.
"Regarding inequality, our approach to dealing with
this is not to encourage a culture of dependency, but a culture of
self-reliance. We don't want to merely give people help - we want to help them
help themselves so that they attain a standard of living that they are
comfortable enough with not to worry about how other people are doing."
But what about the claims that corruption still persists?
"That is certainly the case, although it has mutated and lessened somewhat
- or at least, the perception of corruption has lessed", says Chudi
Onyeama. "Whereas before, people would loot state treasuries openly, these
days, corruption is much more subtle - it takes the form of the award of
inflated contracts to cronies, although the contracts usually get properly
executed because these days, the practice of publishing the details of
contracts awarded makes it harder to execute substandard projects and get away
with it. Besides, people are less vocal about corruption when they feel that
they are doing well."
So what hopes for the future then? "Unless this
government starts to address the issues that matter to the ordinary people,
like poverty and corruption, it will go the way of the PDP" says Kaltungo.
"It is already beginning to show the same signs of arrogance that brought
down the PDP, because there is as yet no serious opposition to its
neo-capitalist ways. But it is reckoning without the anger of the people - and
that will be its eventual downfall", he concludes.
But Adekunle Opadokun disagrees. "I think it is unfair
to condemn this government for not eliminating poverty and corruption. After
all, Western governments are still struggling to deal with these. But a poor
man will be able to tolerate his poverty better if he realises there is real, tangible hope of
escaping from it - and the most important thing that this government is doing is to
provide this hope for millions for the first time since independence."
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Posted by Robot| 15.12.2007 06:30