These foreign moneylenders are at it again. They won’t rest or give up until they ruin us completely. They vow. They know us more than we know ourselves. Mischief and arrogance!
They’re playing the game they are perfect at playing best. They breathe heavily on us. We’re choked. Yet, they refuse to let us be. They claim to know far beyond their long noses. They swear. They see what they think we can’t see. That’s a huge probability. It’s their warped thought process.
Now, they are jittery. That through trial and error; sooner or later. We may, by accident or incident. Commission or omission, surmount our obstacles. And wangle out of our precarious situation. Yes, that’s another probability.
That couldn’t have been their fervent prayer. They are thrown into great panic. Their fear; we may be out of the woods unexpectedly. Perhaps, policies giving us pains now may soon yield bountiful gains. One more probability, of course!
But, we, with acute short noses, should be at alert. Not in alarm. We ought to see clearer this time. Let’s pick useful lessons from our chequered history. And we have it reasonable abundance. All hopes mustn’t be lost. Never, we should not give up so easily so cheaply.
Let’s resolutely resolve. We must get it right this critical period: World Bank, International Monetary Fund (IMF), London Club, Paris Club, et al. They never meant well for us. Not even remotely. They are shylocks, aiming at our pounds of flesh.
They would always work against our collective concerns. Sampler: World Bank’s obnoxious N750 per litre of fuel recommendation. What a malady! That is fuelling another fuel crisis. They don’t want peace. They want problems!
It was last week. The bank claimed it was doing an update on developments in Nigeria. Its Lead Economist, Alex Sienaert, was quick to conclude:
“It does seem like petrol prices are not fully adjusting to market conditions so that hints at the partial return of the subsidy.” He’s not comfortable with that. It hurts their diabolical interests. And they are bent in resisting it. Even with the last pint of their blood.
His verdict was predictable: “We think the price of petrol should be around N750 per litre more than the N650 per litre currently paid by Nigerians.”
Imagine their queer reasoning. It is a death trap. A landmine of some sort. Government must never contemplate that. It is doomed to doom us.
This is not strange or new. Has any country ever come out clean, healthy under IMF’s conditionality? Was there a nation that survived World Bank’s killer medication?
None to my naïve knowledge and understanding! They would all go down with their ailments. The reason Singapore didn’t. Dubai never did. They ignored IMF’s pills. They charted their own course and made it on a dint of hard work. No IMF, no Paris Club, London Club, no World Bank.
It is stranger than fiction. These alien money speculators are mean inside-out. You prescribe the same medications for different ailments. And you force the dose down their throats. What arrant nonsense!
Their bitter caplets are the same shame all over. And for all nations! They ignore countries’ peculiarities. Three of these deadly doses stand out. No country took them and remained alive. None. For World Bank and its ilk, we must borrow to be poorer. Not to get richer. Abomination!
They target three critical areas of our life. Borrowers must do away with subsidy in whatever guise. Simply put: No relief package, not even in form palliative for us. With that we are subjugated forever. That’s why they continue to hail our so-called fuel subsidy removal.
That’s where their deceit becomes more glaring. Virtually all Western countries do offer subsidy. It could be on food, transport, energy, etc. It’s there for all to see. Nothing hidden. They subsidise for their citizens.
They are not done yet. They force their debtors to cut workforce. The result? Exploding unemployment. The same World Bank issues increasing yearly unemployment rates for their debtor countries. They rebuke them for rising job loss. See the double standard. What height of dishonesty and insincerity.
The sledgehammer. They descend heavily on your currency. They hold you by the jugular. You must devalue and it’s now. You succumb. And your currency takes its place of pride in a waste paper basket.
With friends like IMF, World Bank? Oh, we don’t need foes at all. So? They are better ignored. It isn’t worth the trouble. Let’s shine our eyes brighter. Our sing-song ought to be: No friend, no foe. Their medications can’t give us good health and sound mind. They’re meant to keep us in eternal penury. Begging them for alms, aid and stipends.
Trust them. They are tactical and clever. They come to observe our elections. They watch with utter bewilderment, as African leaders brashly rig elections. Patiently they wait.
They are convinced. These leaders will soon run into economic troubled waters. This usually happens sooner than predicted. Then they apply their doses.
African leaders fall for it hook, line and sinker. They always negotiate from a disadvantage. Armed with very weak points. Do they have viable alternatives? They go with cap in hand. Huge shame.
But, we have a window of escape. And it makes this intervention timely. It came from Dr. Akinwumi Adesina. The guru who knows his onions. He is President, African Development Bank Group. He was profound and straight to the point. He delivered The Guardian 40th anniversary lecture recently.
Our leaders need this badly: “Clearly, there’s something that is fundamentally wrong in our management or mismanagement of our natural resources. It’s also clear that if we continue to mismanage these resources, we will remain stuck.” That’s given!
Still booting: “I have urged African governments to stop securing loans backed by their natural resources. That’s because these loans are not transparent.”
Not only that: “They’re expensive. They make debt resolution very, very difficult.” The inherent danger: “If that trend continues, it will be a disaster for Africa.”
His workable option: “If we manage our natural resources well, Africa has no reasons to be poor.” Proof: “We have $6.2 trillion of natural resources.” This is heart-warming. Then, what are we waiting for?
Adesina, too, was baffled and excited all at once: “So, how in the world are we poor?” We also wonder aloud! Our one way out: “We simply need to pull up our socks, stop the corruption and manage our natural resources in the interest of our countries and our people.”
Certainly, we have done none of this. We, instead, showcase greed and deceit. Our maximum rulers are the greatest culprits.
The intervention continues: “And let me say, the resources of a country do not belong in the pockets of powerful and rich individuals.” Sure! Tell them more: “They belong for the state to be used for the benefit of the people of that country.” Gbam!
This is what is actually driving him. It’s what he has come to say. His ultimate bottom line: “There must be accountability on our natural resources.” Succinct.
He forges ahead: “I wonder sometimes when people go around and say, ‘well, I have actually helped. We put a borehole and it’s on national television’.
“The very fact that you are installing a borehole is an indication of government failure.” Why? “Because in (this) 21st Century, every single house must be having pipe-borne water. So there’s nothing to be delightful about trying to do that.”
This is very germane: “And we should get away from this feeling of leaders feeling they are doing public good.” Wrong notion. Misplaced belief. Why are they there in the first instance? #Yeyenatu!
Adesina was emphatic and adamant for the right reasons. He insisted: “No. Leaders must be held accountable for the resources of the people.”
That’s the meaning of good governance. It’s its essence. And that is what we lack here. Adesina has an ally in Alhaja Sinotu Aderoju Ojikutu. She’s former deputy governor, Lagos State. Her testimony:
“Accountability, service, not favour, etc. I have been saying that. It has made me public enemy numero uno to looters under the guise of leaders in public office over the years.”
Our wild and weird leaders know the truth. They refuse to use the truth to set us free. They opt to walk the truth painfully on its head. They turn themselves into maximum rulers. They reign by impulse and instinct. We are mere pawns in large hands. At their beck and call.
They toss us around. Courtesy: Legion of bootlickers, hangers-on, do-gooders, hailers, praise-singers, adulators, flatterers, hero-worshippers, et al.
Why are we not getting it right 63 years after? We fumble and stumble all the way. Who did we offend? Who offended us? We are prepared to go on our knees. We want to beg them all, if we can see them.
Let the political class make no mistake: the business of governance is serious business. Our minders should be serious-minded. It’s not how much you “buga”, bully, grandstand or cajole.
That’s pedestrian. Governance is far more elevated. It is challenging. It is a Herculean task. You just have to be honest and truthful. Walk your talk at all times. Not sometimes.
That’s how dead serious governance is!
