Jekwu Ozoemene A Legacy of Pigmy Dreams I have always wondered why Nigerian business owners who are very meticulous in hiring / choosing the managers of their business are less diligent when it comes to reviewing the pedigree of people who will manage their states of residence. Today we have State Governors in Nigeria whose State’s economies are triple or even ten times that of the average ‘top’ Nigerian corporate. Worse still is the fact that as a people we have less expectations from such elective officials than we have from the Managing Director of Nigerian Breweries (2012 financial year revenue of N252.7 Billion or US$1.59 Billion), Dangote Cement (US$1.88 Billion), or MTN Nigeria (N774 Billion or US$4.2 Billion). Wallowing from a legacy of pigmy dreams, for our State Governors we have equated ‘performance’ on their ability to tar or construct roads, build model schools and bequeath us with a sprinkle of health centres / medical facilities. For this trifle we sing their praise to the high heavens. So and so Governor is performing! Go and see what he is doing in his State….Even those who we ascribe superlative performance to all pale in comparison when juxtaposed against African Countries of approximate or even smaller economies. The closest proxy to a corporate’s annual revenue for a State Government is the GDP of the State, defined as the monetary value of all the finished goods and services produced within the State (in the a particular year); all private and public consumption, government outlays, investments and exports less imports. So here we go; Lagos State –2012 GDP of US$31.2 Billion. Today Lagos State’s economy is Africa’s 13th largest economy, just ahead of Tanzania at US$28.25 Billion (more than Cameroun at US$25.01 Million, Congo DRC at US$17.7 Billion, and Equatorial Guinea at US$17.21 Billion). This is expected to increase by 40% in 2014 to approximately US$45 Billion post the rebasing of Nigeria’s GDP (expected in early 2014). By this estimate, Lagos State’s economy will be equivalent to that of Ghana in 2014. Kano State – 2012 GDP of US$16.8 Billion, equivalent to the economy of Botswana (one of the strongest and most stable economies in Africa). This is expected to increase by 40% in 2014 to approximately US$23.52 Billion post the rebasing of Nigeria’s GDP firmly placing Kano as one of the top thirty economies in Africa. Oyo State – 2012 GDP of US$14.2 Billion, larger than the economy of Senegal at US$13.86 Million. This is expected to increase by 40% in 2014 to approximately US$20 Billion (approximating that of Zambia at US$20.52 Million) post the rebasing of Nigeria’s GDP firmly placing Oyo as one of the top thirty economies in Africa. Kaduna State – 2012 GDP of US$13.3 Billion, approximating that of Senegal at US$13.86 Million and expected increase by 40% in 2014 to approximately US$18.62 Billion. Rivers State – 2012 GDP of US$11.3 Billion, more than that of Mali at US$10 Billion and expected increase by 40% in 2014 to approximately US$15.82 Billion. So for all those that keep hollering that GEJ doesn’t know what his doing, when last did you look at your State’s financials, do you know how well your State Governor is doing relative to the resources available to him? Ka Chineke Mezie Okwu.
Posted on: Sat, 13 Jul 2013 04:31:25 +0000
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