The National Council for Privatization (NCP) was recently reconstituted at a time the programme of divestiture from about 100 public-owned enterprises was not only losing steam but enveloped with questionable deals. Mooted more than 20 years ago, the privatization programme gathered momentum at the inception of the Olusegun Obasanjo administration in 1999, which made it a core strategy to empower the private sector as the engine of growth and free public funds for welfare projects. Those skeptical of government�s intention and possible benefits of selling public assets to a few private hands, particularly Labour, opposed the programme. With enlightenment, Labour�s opposition was beaten back. So, it was left for government to pursue the programme with dedication and transparency.
Sadly, government has permitted itself to be slowed down by other forces. Most of the privatized enterprises are entangled in loud controversies bordering on lack of transparency. The dust over the privatization of Benue Cement Company is yet to settle, four years after. With its debts fraudulently hidden from buyers, African Petroleum was sold under questionable circumstances. In the case of Nigerian Telecommunication Company (NITEL) and the National Fertilizer Company, their bids were won by puny local and foreign firms who could not pay up. Botched also is the sale of the Nigerian Security, Printing and Minting Company (NSPMC). The bidding for the 30-year-old Ajaokuta Steel Complex (ASCL) and that of the Aluminum Smelter Company of Nigeria (ALSCON), both multibillion-dollar ventures, are currently mired in controversies in which the Presidency is allegedly compromising due process to favour some people.
The lethargy in the privatization process is even more visible in the oil downstream sector, where the nation faces dire local supply crisis of refined petroleum products. One year after 31 local and foreign firms had expressed interest, the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE) has deliberately held up the privatization of the moribund refineries, allowing the nation to be milked by all manner of parasites and rent-seekers operating as fuel importers. The danger of the BPE and NCP helmsmen showing favour to particular bidders is grave indeed. Genuine bidders are easily discouraged when unqualified fronts and cronies who lack managerial expertise and finance are sponsored. This credibility setback to a major reform programme hurts public confidence in government�s ability to turn the economy around.
While the privatization programme has become lackluster and rustic, especially under the current BPE Director General, Dr. Julius Bala, the government�s liberalization programme, too, has nearly halted. In five years, the government has failed to put in place a legal environment conducive to private sector investment. This could easily have been achieved by revoking all restrictive and anti-investment monopoly laws. The Power Sector Reform Bill that would allow the private sector to build and operate, if government prefers to hold tight to its moribund corporations, is yet to become law. The NNPC and Railway Corporation, among others, are still backed by monopoly laws that scare away investors. The comatose public enterprises remain avoidable cesspits of graft and waste. Yet government does not want to let go. At ALSCON, for instance, more than N60 million is spent monthly to service inert machines and pay idle workers.
This damning verdict does little credit to the office of the Vice President as the chairman of NCP. The NCP and BPE must be woken up and made to rev up the privatization programme. The successful implementation of the programme holds the key to rapid economic growth and employment generation.
