Nigeria’s next election is very close and may be over by the time you read this – at least the presidential part. I have started pitching a tent with a group led by people who have a total package that can make an important difference in our country. This includes respect between the private sector, experience in opening complex systems and coordinating the efforts and ideas of very smart people, and the unique identification of hard workers and people’s ideas that can cause change in our dear country. Recent problems with Buhari’s cash policy suggest that Lagos is single-handedly driving any growth recorded in Nigeria. And this is a wake-up call for other countries and zones. Given that Lagos is the federal capital, and has the advantage of a port, still a visionless set of leaders could have made a pig meal place instead of the moderate hope we see today. Look at Abuja. Built from scratch, maintained close to the military administration, but gone to the dogs in the civilian. Why should we get the best idea of ​​governance from Lagos instead of Abuja which is clean, prepared, but now a great template? It comes down to the quality of leadership – or the lack of it.
In my humble opinion, leading Nigeria forward is not just a question of saving money, although saving money and spending it right is a critical factor and the subject of this writeup. One of the candidates, Mr. Peter Obi, has made a niche about the need to be frugal and the good and must do if he does not win the election. As a strategy, but not enough to run the country. There must be a big vision, and the ability to direct that vision. There may even be an argument between having a leader who is very frugal but does not have a general vision of greatness, business, emancipation of the people, economic growth, repositioning the image of the people in the community of the country, one hand, and a wheeler-dealer leader who has a vision for all the top and grit sheer, experience and craziness. Many people will choose the latter. Only people with limited insight, and a more limited understanding of the issues in the field would prefer the former. Many of Peter Obi’s supporters are like that, including others who support him for emotional reasons. I have done a great deal of research on the history and evolution of American democracy – which it emulates – and I know that some of the greatest leaders it has had have not been puritans. One of the most corrupt men in political history – Boss William Tweed – is also credited with the explosive gravitas in New York City today – especially Manhattan. All the skyscrapers that transformed the landscape of Chicago, Los Angeles and New York, were not put together by slackers and penny-pinchers. And all that infrastructure is the pride of every American today.
But I want to push today if Obi does not win, and the choice – Tinubu – wins, or if Atiku wins, we need people who are ready to serve Nigeria free. It can’t be business as usual. We need this even for two years. It will sound very annoying especially for us dyed-in-the-wool politicians, especially those who have spent large amounts of money to get into office. It is bad enough that in this season and with the current reforms, even the president has made his own party’s prospects more difficult. So who am I supposed to tell anyone to work for free? But I must say that I am ready to serve for free if I become president in 2019. I am also ready to work for free if I am appointed to government in 2015 or whenever. I believe Nigerians should now roll up their sleeves and make sacrifices if they get into government, because there is a need to redeem and set the right example. Funny enough, Obi hasn’t promised anything like this; it is only thought that the spine will also be a sacrifice. But Adebayo of the SDP has, on more than one occasion. I know that it is very difficult to make promises and keep them. Still, that’s the era we find ourselves in. I remember that in 2015, this was one of the triggers that made me suspect that the Buhari government was derailed. The whole country has invested a lot of emotion in the president. But when he was appointed as a minister, many of them asked for various benefits. I remember when they started agitating for the house. Ibe Kachikwu complains that he lives in his own house (I wonder if he wants to stay in my own house), Aregbesola or Lai Mohammed), saying that he lives in rented houses or squats in other people’s houses. From that, I see that they missed the big vision and Buhari himself is busy grappling with whether he will stick to the words that open the declaration of assets, like Umaru Musa Yar’Adua, or to go the other way like Jonathan and Obasanjo. The rest is history.
How can payroll services not work? How long does it take? How can appointees and elected officials survive the fact that they have to give up their previous appointments or businesses to come and serve in government? What kind of basic provisions can be made for them, which will ensure that they feel the pinch without going hungry – they and their families? What is the way to let the people know that the new servants continue to be more, so that they also work in many ways? If Nigeria is going to get to the next level in development, and drive profits, work with a bigger national budget, inspire a bigger citizenry, I believe this is a necessity. Of course, we can’t expect anything good from the rather wasteful continuation of the status quo. The scriptures ask ‘shall we continue to sin and expect grace to abound?’ We can not preach to Nigerians to chip in a little more and straighten their ways so that we all live in a sane society like ‘foreign countries’ that Nigerians are now empty into, without such sacrificial movements.
How do we build infrastructure that makes everyone’s life easier with the commonwealth if we don’t free up enough money? How can we get our people to pay more taxes, and be ready to pay the fines, and fees that they have to pay as a result of their involvement with the government and the public in general, if they do not see that those in government have cheated the cat. ?
The other day, there was news that Mr. Obi’s Next Cash and Carry Limited had its registration canceled in the UK. This comes after the company failed to submit its annual return of the company house for two consecutive years. Of course, the explanation of Obi’s campaign tries to solve the problem that we need to learn. I have the idea that – like the UK – Nigeria combines the Corporate Affairs Commission, the Federal Inland Revenue and the banks. As in the UK, no one can open a company account in a given year, unless they show a verifiable company housing return (from the CAC). While the company house mainly needs to know about the general situation of the company – i.e. directors, address, share ownership and so on – it must also look at tax compliance. Updating Company House records should be mandatory for every company. So too must tax compliance for active companies.
If we go British style, the tax revenue should increase a lot. There are many companies that do good turnovers in Nigeria but do not pay taxes. Banks should not entertain these companies under normal circumstances. Company accounts that have not renewed the company house in a given year must be flagged by the bank system. Currently, in line with Company House return is less than 5% in Nigeria, according to CAC statistics.
If Nigeria is going to embrace this paradigm shift, we must be acceptable to the people, and those running the government must be trustworthy. That’s asking for a lot. However, this is only fulfilling obligations to the state. We must not continue to look in all the wrong places for Nigeria’s prosperity. My old friend, Prof NN Susungi (Cameroon presidential candidate) told me years ago that economically, Nigeria is like a big grapefruit with little juice. Most of the money that should be put into infrastructure and collective development goes into private hands, religious houses, and various gangs like motorcycle parking gangs that are registered as unions. The state has continuously lost ground as a result of ineptitude, laziness, fraudulent collaboration with similar entities, and lack of public credibility. On top of the factors that erode the credibility of civil servants – elected or selected – is the usual greed; the desire for shiny little expensive toys that the state must pay for, and the desire to acquire as much money as quickly as possible because public office is seen as God’s blessing for loot, not a strict avenue for true sacrifice.
So who is ready to serve Nigeria for free? And how long can you keep it? Are you ready to live in your own house, not pressure the government, and drive a car while doing public services? Do you have a backup to stop you? Are you ready to do this just for the rewards, without the money? Combined with a continuous cashless policy (you’re almost careless), these initiatives can help us focus on good infrastructure leaps, reduce the pain of overhanging debt, and free up a lot of resources for social services that will result. Nigeria’s true repositioning. This may be a critical investment that should be made in Nigeria.
‘Tope Fasua, an economist, author, blogger, entrepreneur, and presidential candidate of the Abundant Nigeria Renewal Party (ANRP), can be reached through topsyfash@yahoo.com.
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