Between Paper Progress and Real Progress by Victoria Ibezim-Ohaeri Last week, Nigeria’s finance minister, and coordinating minister for the economy, Dr. Mrs. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala declared that the Nigerian economy has witnessed verifiable growth indices in all sectors in the last two years. For instance, inflation has come down from about 12.4 per cent in 2011 to the single digit of about 9 per cent today, and foreign reserves risen from $32billion in 2011 to about $50billion today. “Nigerian economy is today, one of the fastest growing in the world at the rate of 6.5 per cent,” the minister said. Dr. Iweala’s submissions corroborates a similar statement made by Nigeria’s President Goodluck Jonathan at the presentation of his self-made mid-term score card where he challenged critics of his administration to develop a marking scheme to appropriately grade the performance of his administration. Are these claims mere rhetoric or factual claims of progress? Naturally, the above statements by Nigeria’s high-ranking officials should ordinarily pass off as believable, if not commendable. But in a country where brandishing radiant statistics of national economic progress on pages of glossy reports and power point slides has become an annual ritual, Nigeria’s 160 million population, 70% of whom live in poverty, have grown weary of listening to such monotonous declarations. To an average Nigerian who lives in the slums of Makoko in Lagos, 12% inflation dip remains a cock-and-bull story if such figures do not translate to bread and butter on his table. 6.5% economic growth means nothing to the rural farmer in Benue, if his pressing need for fertilizer, mechanized farm tools and storage facilities for his agro-produce cannot be met. To millions of unemployed Nigerian graduates, having $50Billion in foreign reserves does not explain to them – in black and white - why they just can’t get good jobs and earn a living. And to the youth forced into violent crimes by decades of job scarcity-induced idleness, N50Billion Naira in foreign reserves is in fact, enough incentive to join militia and kidnapping gangs who kidnap parents, wives and relatives of the affluent politicians in the hope that part of the Billion dollars in reserve funds would trickle down to them in the form of ransom money. Not long ago, the finance minister’s mother was a guest at one of such kidnappers’ den in her hometown. What about Justice Rhode Vivour’s wife and son who have just been released? Away from the rhetoric on paper, a simple reality check would determine the veracity of staggering ‘success stories” recorded in the last two years. Starting with food stuffs, the price of one paint bucket of Garri was N250 only in May 2011. As of today, the same paint bucket goes for N550 in Lagos, and N800 in Warri. While the paper increase is 12%, the real-life increase in the market is almost 300%. Fuel (petroleum motor spirit) was N65 in May 2011. Today, fuel costs N97 in Lagos and Abuja, and N120 and above in the South East. In many parts of Niger Delta and the northern part of the country, fuel price ranges from N150 – 250. While the inflation rate remains 12% on paper, the real rate at the fuel pump soars above 250%. The increasing price of fuel automatically triggers a hike in the costs of goods and services. In terms of road transportation, bus fare from Egbeda to Ikeja steadied between N50-N80 in 2011. Today, bus fares for the same route hovers between N150-250 depending on the peak hours. ABC/Ekene Dili Chukwu/Chisco long distance luxurious buses charged between N2, 000 – N4,000 in May 2011 for the Lagos- Onitsha, Owerri routes or Lagos-Lokoja-Abuja routes. In 2011, the fare for the same trip has jumped to 4,000 – N6,500 depending on the type of bus and class of ticket. Mind you, the inflation rate on paper is still 12%. Nothing is more alarming than the deficits between paper and actual progress in the educational sector. The 2011 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) was held on June 18, and the results released on June 24. In that year, about 2, 892 candidates scored 300 and above in the examination in which a total of 1, 493, 000 candidates participated. Two years after that “bad” performance, Nigeria recorded the HIGHEST-ever mass failures in the same examination. The 2013 recently-released result by the Joint Admission and Matriculation Board (JAMB) showed an unprecedented decline in the standard of education, with many students scoring below 150 out of the 400 marks based on the four papers each of the candidates sat for. Compared to the 2, 892 that scored above 300 in 2011, only ten candidates scored 300 marks and above in 2013!!!!!!!! What a progress in the reverse order! The Nigerian health sector has officially been sentenced to a long-term embarrassing coma. It has now become politically fashionable and in fact, an unwritten commandment for elected officials and public officers to run abroad at the slightest mosquito bite. So unreliable is Nigeria’s healthcare system that Governors Suntai, Liyel Imoke, Sullivan Chime, Rochas Okorocha, David Mark including Nigeria’s First Lady have inadvertently metamorphosed into informal ambassadors of foreign healthcare institutions. Likewise, India, Germany and London have become the new destinations for medical tourism and quality healthcare for many Nigerians. There was a time in this country when people were routinely referred to University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital (UNTH) Enugu for the most difficult ailments. Even Maryam Sani Abacha, a former first lady delivered her last baby in a Nigerian hospital while she was serving as Nigeria’s First Lady. Fast forward to 2013, the story has changed! While public officials and their wives travel abroad seeking treatment in safer, well-run health facilities managed by the governments of other nations, Nigeria’s health sector is abandoned to wallow in inefficiency and incompetence. And just as the glossy 2013 mid-term report records massive TRANFORMATION in healthcare across the country, UN’s World Health Organisation says one in every 13 women die during childbirth, making Nigeria the country with the second highest rate of maternal mortality in the world. A debt-buyback arrangement facilitated by the Finance Minister, Dr. Okonjo Iweala in 2005 put Nigeria on the list of debt-free nations. In 2013, Nigeria annual borrowing stands at N588billion! This is just annual borrowing oooooo. About N75billion of such debts stock has already been paid off. The continued borrowing is being facilitated by the same finance minister who criminalized and urged Nigeria to quit borrowing in 2005! Nigerians have grown weary of complaining about insecurity, especially as the nation’s security challenges continue to grow in scale and intensity. What started as sectarian crises in the north eastern part of the country has gradually mutated into full-blown terrorist activities. While stringent action is being taken to restore peace, independent investigations show that human rights atrocities perpetrated by security forces are rife, and no one has been held accountable. The Justice Sector is not left out. Prior to May 2011, widespread public outcry greeted plea bargains and court rulings which saw the likes of Cecilia Ibru, Bode George and Lucky Igbinedion slammed with light jail sentences for monumental fraud and corruption. In 2013, light sentences became even lighter …and came crashing down to mere payment of fine. The recent judgment involving the pension fund director thief is a sad reminder. The list goes on and on. One thing that can be easily gleaned from the annual rituals of paper progress displays: leaders are so disconnected from the harsh realities citizens live with, on a daily basis. The government-governed disconnectedness continues to fuel public mistrust and suspicion of officials and official institutions despite unending promises of hope encoded in mid-term reports of TRANSFORMATION. Nigerians do not need mid-term scorecards to tell them about good governance. What Nigerians need is good governance that brightly manifests in the form of jobs, social security, adequate housing, good nutrition, affordable healthcare, access to quality education and respect for fundamental rights. Anything short of that belongs to the wild realm of ‘cock and bull story”!
Posted on: Wed, 03 Jul 2013 21:51:55 +0000
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