DOES CORRUPTION MATTER? In 1966 at independence, Botswana was much poorer than Nigeria with average income per head of just about $70, less than half of the average income per head in Nigeria at the time. Like Nigeria, it is a mono-product economy with diamonds accounting for more than 70%-80% of export earnings and 40% of total Government revenues. Like Nigeria, it was a British colony gaining independence in 1966, 6 years after Nigeria. However, that is as far as the similarities go. Today, Botswana is a middle-level income country with PPP GDP per head of $14,750, six times Nigeria’s $2,530 and 35% higher and better than South Africa’s $10,960. In fact, the current PPP GDP per Head for Botswana is better than all the BRICS countries (Brazil-Russia-India-China-South Africa) except Russia, and ranks with Mexico and Turkey at the top of the MINT countries (Mexico-Indonesia- Nigeria-Turkey). According to Wikipedia, “Since independence, Botswana has had one of the fastest growth rates in per capita income in the world. Botswana has transformed itself from one of the poorest countries in the world to a middle-income country. By one estimate, it has the fourth highest gross national income at purchasing power parity in Africa, giving it a standard of living around that of Mexico and Turkey”. It earned the highest sovereign credit rating in Africa and has stockpiled foreign exchange reserves of almost $8bn amounting to almost two years of imports. Available data, though dated, indicate that about 30% of the population live below the poverty line compared to almost 70% in Nigeria. This is despite being a land-locked country without any access to the sea, and having 70% of its land mass covered by the Kalahari Desert; challenges which Nigeria does not suffer. The country has also contended with an AIDS pandemic on a scale much worse than most African countries. How does Nigeria compare? Just look around you. Nigeria is full of millions of struggling people. The recent recruitment debacle of the Nigerian Immigration Service where over 700,000 people paid N1,000 for a chance to compete for less than 5,000 employment slots graphically depicts the situation of the average Nigerian. 1. 69% live on less than N6,000 monthly, worse than almost 70% of Sub-Saharan African countries including Togo (28%), Ethiopia (31%) and Uganda (38%)!; (World Bank’s World Development Report 2013) 2. Life expectancy of 52 years is 33rd in Sub-Saharan Africa; (World Bank’s World Development Report 2013) 3. Lagos is the 3rd most difficult city to live in the entire globe; (Pocket World In Figures 2013 Edition, International Economist) and 4. “1.2 billion people live in destitution out of which 100 million are Nigerians”: Marie Francoise Marie-Nelly – World Bank Country Director for Nigeria; The Punch, Wednesday 13 November 2013; Page 32. The contrast between both countries is stark. Botswana is ranked the 30th most transparent country in the world, the first in Africa, with a score of 64%. Nigeria ranks 144 with a score of 25%. Botswana is consistently ranked the most transparent country in Africa and it has the best sovereign credit rating. We believe that corruption is a major reason for the difference in the performance of both countries. Nigeria’s natural place in the world is to emerge as a developed nation, proving that the Negro is inferior to no other. The great work of Martin Luther King Jnr. and Nelson Mandela in achieving desegregation and legal equality in the last century need to be validated by an economically and technologically successful nation built substantially by Negro genius and talent. This challenge is naturally Nigeria’s, but this Divine destiny is slipping out of our fingers, blighted by several vices, the chief being corruption. Corruption defines Nigeria, just as immorality defined Sodom and Gomorrah. God looked for a critical mass of 10 people to save Sodom and only found 4. The place was destroyed. The transformation of Nigeria requires a critical mass of people sworn to righteousness, committed to shunning bribery and corruption, regardless of what it will cost them. With this critical mass, we trust God will release His grace and favour upon Nigeria to fulfill its destiny by emerging as a developed nation, proving that the Negro is inferior to no other. Only a transformed people can successfully deliver a Transformation Agenda.
Posted on: Tue, 08 Apr 2014 12:05:54 +0000
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