Economic Sectors – Not Complementary No agreement today, no agreement tomorrow – Fela Kuti Capable societies are those that have enforceable institutions of public value, while incapable societies lack them at national and local levels. Such nations are mainly in the Global North. It is easy to identify nations in the Global South as incapable…
Tag: Political Economy of Nigeria
Buhari Has Panama-Proofed Nigeria
Buhari Has Panama-Proofed Nigeria If you were to ask President Muhammadu Buhari what the most successful thing a person could achieve in Nigeria was? If he is candid with you, his answer would be you to seize power (through coup d’ états or general elections). or to amass riches (through grand corruption). Power and wealth,…
2017: “Saint Buhari” and More Economic Stagnation
The trouble with Nigeria is simply and squarely a failure of leadership. There is nothing basically wrong with the Nigerian character. There is nothing wrong with the Nigerian land or climate or water or air or anything else – Chinua Achebe In the year 2017, Nigeria’s economy is predictably going stagnate further without recourse to…
James Ibori’s Guaranteed Innocence and the Blessing of Tribalism in Nigeria
When I read the article titled ‘The Welcome Party for Ibori’ by Simon Kolawole, it was thought-provoking journalism considering the context of Delta State’s ex-Governor, James Ibori’s much-celebrated release from Belmarsh Prison, London, England. Many Nigerians mostly see Ibori’s celebrated release by mostly people from his home state of Delta as a national disgrace and most rightly…
Nigeria Should Thank Buhari For Not Revealing Corruption List
Even though President Muhammadu Buhari was riding on a high crest of fame and popularity during the Anticorruption Summit held recently in London, it was evident it would not last for long. Buhari used that momentous platform to assure Nigerians (and the entire world who were keenly watching) that the list of names of Nigeria’s…
Nigeria: Loans For Unsolicited Proposals
Nigeria: Loans For Unsolicited Proposals How can a so-called modern nation be perennially managed since Independence by way of “unsolicited proposals”? President Muhammadu Buhari came to power on the slogan of “Change” but he is still governing Nigeria unrelentingly with the instrument of “unsolicited proposals”. When loans are used to fund “unsolicited proposals” it is…
Loans Will Not Save Nigeria: The Hidden Costs of Borrowing
President Muhammadu Buhari won many die-hard supporters purely because he refused to play the game of “begging bowl politics” at a time when Africa’s innumerable dictators were queuing up to take IMF / World Bank loans as global neoliberalism aggressively dictated. If Buhari had accepted the aggressively marketed neoliberal-induced loans, General Ibrahim Babangida might have…
Fuel Scarcity and Other Curses
If it is true that countries can be ‘cursed’, Nigeria’s most prominent curse will be constantly having “Good Leaders Surrounded By Strictly Evil Men”. It does not matter if these Good Leaders turn out to be thieves or incompetents, they remain Good Leaders. Another prominent curse on Nigeria would be “Political Treachery In High Places”….
The Niger Delta “Overlooked” by Government
The Niger Delta has been exclusively the undisputed source of Nigeria’s vast but plundered national wealth for five decades. When President Muhammadu Buhari came to power in 2015, his first “tough actions” were exacted on the Niger Delta with the bombings of illegal refineries and bunkering assets. It was an utterly senseless strategy that created…