President Goodluck Jonathan and the Rest of Us: This article discusses the responsibilities of the State toward her citizens and how the State must do everything to protect her citizens’ wellbeing. Every Nigerian, poor or rich, deserves the protection of the State. The State, in this case, is Nigeria. The government of Nigeria, under the leadership of Mr. Goodluck Jonathan, has failed to protect the rights of every individual especially the most vulnerable among us, the poor people. What are the rights under assault by the government of Nigeria? Protection and respect for our fundamental human rights and human dignity, economic and social justices. Nigerian society, unfortunately, has been partitioned by the government into the haves and the have-nots. The middle class that was once attainable seems to be out of reach. Majority of our fellow citizens are now stuck at the bottom of the economic ladder, with no hope to climb up. Education that was once a ticket to prosperity has now become a mechanism to keep people busy. Remember when you were in high school, and you were enthusiastically told that once you are able to complete your bachelor’s degree, you will be better off. Today, the argument will sound like this: Once you are able to complete your doctorate’s degree, you might have a chance. Well, they didn’t lie to you. So if they didn’t lie to you, then, something must have changed over time. The question becomes what changed? The basic structure of the government changed; corruption doubled over the years, bad economic policies, and unstable government. How can we save the remnant of the middle class in Nigeria? The subject of middle class is very important because the survival of any democracy depends on the number of middle class in the system. Let me be clear, middle class is the bedrock of any democracy. The disappearance of middle class jobs in Nigeria should worry anyone that cares about our nascent democracy. When the middle class families are worried about the direction which the country is going, then they start raising legitimate questions about what good, if any, does democracy have to offer them. The best way to create a formidable middle class is to form a union that represents the interest of every member. That union, in turn, will negotiate in good faith for the interests of their members and whatever they represent. One of the most important unions in Nigeria is Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU). I think we can all agree that ASUU represents a larger number of middle class workers in Nigeria, and it is quite unfortunate, that the government of Goodluck Jonathan continues to play them like pawn. ASUU is demanding that the government allocate more funds to our universities, and humbly asking the government to honor the agreement that had been reached from the previous contract. Why is that too much to ask? Well, the government insists that the nation will bankrupt if those demands are met. Really? When the government spent billions of naira to rehabilitate thugs from the Niger Delta creek, Nigeria did not bankrupt. When the government spent unaccounted billions of naira on oil subsidy scheme, Nigeria did not bankrupt. When the government spent billions of naira on unnecessary trips overseas, Nigeria did not bankrupt. When government officials stole billion of naira, Nigeria did not bankrupt. But when the government is being asked to invest in education and support a strong middle class job, the national anthem turns to bankruptcy. We all know what will really bankrupt Nigeria, and believe it or not, it is not ASUU, it’s the same government leaders that continue to divert taxpayers’ money into their private accounts somewhere in Switzerland. The assault on the middle class jobs is not just on ASUU, I used ASUU, as a case example, because it’s the most recent victim of Goodluck’s assault on hardworking Nigerians. President Goodluck Jonathan has a huge hammer, and what do you do when you have a huge hammer? You look for nails to knock down. That is exactly what Goodluck Jonathan is doing. He will nail down anyone who dares to ask him for a true reform. The labor union needs a stronger hammer to defend their interests. I will rather prefer two guys with a weapon, than one guy with a weapon. Why? I can’t guarantee that the other guy won’t use the weapon against me. President Goodluck Jonathan has the best weapon as the executive-in-chief, but the unions that represent the middle class must also realize that they have the consent of their members. When it’s election time, the union should mobilize their members, and vote against Goodlcuk Jonathan. In the meantime, tell Goodluck Jonathan that policies have consequences, use the upcoming election as a bargaining chip. That is how democracy works. I think I have said enough about the middle class. What about the most vulnerable in any society, the poor people? Are we going to let a man die on the street because he can’t afford to eat? Are we going to watch our neighbors starve to death because they can’t afford to buy food? Are we going to be driven by selfishness rather than collectiveness? Are we going to amass billions of dollars while our fellow citizens struggle to open a bank account? Are we going to build a huge penthouse and look down on our fellow citizens struggling in the slum? These are moral questions that each and every one of us must pose to ourselves. Of course, there is no, yes to any of the questions above. So why is Nigeria the capital of all these immoral behaviors? Maybe because we have all been weakened by the government or maybe because we are too busy trying to guarantee our own survival. Is it logical to then say that, there is truly no victor, and that, we are all victims. I think it is fair to say that our leaders have succeeded in creating two tales, victims and victors? If you have been denied basic rights such as economic and social rights, human rights, then, you are a victim. Who are the victors? They are the usual suspects, corrupt politicians and their friends. I’m not trying to condemn Nigerians to hopelessness in this article, but I have painted this ugly picture of what is going on in Nigeria, in order to raise your level of consciousness to the reality of our contemporary society. I’m not trying to scare you that there will be an apocalypse (Nigerian pastors have already scared you enough.) I’m trying to start a conversation that will make you have a rethink of the kind of society that you live in. What are the solutions to the numerous problems facing Nigeria? I’m a huge fan of capitalism and free market economy because I strongly believe that, it creates a mechanism for everyone to start from the bottom of the economic ladder, and then, end up at the top of the economic ladder. I strongly believe that the prosperity of any country is rooted in capitalism and the idea of free market economy. Capitalism encourages innovation, creativity and the pursuit of happiness. Capitalism does not excuse the government from regulating the market. Capitalism does not prevent the government from creating a strong mechanism to protect the basic structure of the society. While I strongly advocate capitalism as the best solutions to the numerous problems facing Nigeria, I’m quick to note that if the mechanism necessary to create a free market society is not put in place, it ends up creating unfair society. The market system in Nigeria is No Label. You can’t get any reliable economic data from the government (Just recently, the editor of a popular newspaper was fired for digging into the real economic data of this administration). Basically the only way we know what the government is doing, is through their propaganda machine, Nigerian Television Authority (NTA). Ask anyone in Nigeria what the unemployment rate is? Ask anyone in Nigeria what kind of monetary policy this administration is pursuing? Ask anyone in Nigeria what kind of fiscal policy this administration is pursuing? While you are waiting to ask someone, can you ask yourself the same questions? I bet you don’t know. It’s not your fault that you don’t know what your government is doing with your money; it’s the fault of the government that remains unaccountable. The government must open the market to everyone and let people take a considerable risk. The way the current market in Nigeria is structured only favors the well-connected people. The consequences of a semi-open market economy or close-guarded market economy, whatever you want to call it, are all the same, consumers always pay the price. Some people think that it takes a genius to understand macroeconomics, I don’t think so. Let me simplify my argument: Let’s say you live in a secluded neighborhood, in that neighborhood, the only person that sells water is Mr. Owonikoko. Let’s say Mr. Owonikoko sells one gallon of water for 10cents. Do you think that Mr. Owonikoko will hesitate to increase the price of one gallon of water to 20cents? No. Let me extend the argument a little bit: Let say Mr. Owanbe moves into the same neighborhood and decides to start selling one gallon of water for 17cents, what do you think will happen? Well, two things might happen: People (Consumers) will now have a choice to choose between Mr. Owonikoko and Mr. Owanbe. I’m guessing rational people will choose Mr. Owanbe. Second, Mr. Owonikoko will be forced to reduce his price in order to compete. That last point is very important; more players in a particular market will create more competition, and in a competitive market, you will have to stay creative to survive (Mr. Owonikoko won’t just lower its price, he has to assure his customers of good water). If the government of Nigeria can open the rice market, sugar markets, and other commodities, it will create a very competitive atmosphere, and many consumers will be freed from the shackles of Dangote. This is applicable to every sector of the Nigerian economy. My fellow Nigerians, competition lowers price. We need competent leaders that will shake things up. What other things can the government of Nigeria do? The government must start to invest heavily in infrastructures; build more roads and bridges, build more transformers and power grids, and invest in education, research and development (Listen to ASUU). All these activities will boost the sluggish economy, and gradually, the stagnant labor market will improve. The only way you can help the poor people is to put them back to work. When the job market is stagnant, the only way you can breathe some life back, into it, is by government spending. This is how it’s done in the developed countries. When the financial market collapsed, in 2008, corporations stopped hiring, businesses were collapsing, and banks stopped lending. The market was at a standstill. The government of the United States knew they had to do something. Both parties unanimously passed the stimulus bill of more than $800 billion to resuscitate the market. Today, the market is still volatile, but the labor market continues to improve (7.3% as at August) and businesses are now hiring more workers. I mentioned unstable government earlier on; we must reform our political system. Democracy is not just about election. You can’t say because you have conducted a free and fair election, therefore, you are a democratic country. After the election, our fundamental human rights must still be protected. We should feel free to criticize the government without any repercussion (Okonjo Iweala should not call for the suspension of a journalist for exposing the truth about the state of the economy). Elected officials can’t be using the instrument of the State to undermine the legitimacy of another elected official from a different party (The situation in Rivers state is shameful and disgraceful).The security of every person must be guaranteed (Intimidating peaceful protesters with force must stop). Elected officials must be accountable to the electorates (Goodluck must show us his economic plan). Finally, let me talk about corruption. Corruption is huge problem in Nigeria, and it has to be reduced significantly. You can’t get rid of corruption in any society, even in the United States; there are corrupt politicians such as Rod Blagojevich, Jesse Jackson. So what you can do is, to create an independent agency to combat corruption (Not EFCC or ICPC). Such agency must be free of any interference or selective prosecution (You can’t prosecute the enemy of the president, and pardon the friend of the president). There must be stiff penalty for embezzling taxpayers’ money (You can’t set a bail for $1million for someone who stole over $1billion). My fellow Nigerians, we must rise together and face these enormous problems before us. We should all join hands together for a true reform. Thank you for reading. AKINTUNDE ADEYEMO. You can read more @inside9ija.blogspot/
Posted on: Mon, 16 Sep 2013 23:17:45 +0000
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