|
BNW |
|
B N W: Biafra Nigeria World News |
|
|
|
|
||||
|
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
It is human beings who matter (2)
Text of a public lecture delivered by Prof. A. Bolaji Akinyemi at the launching of a book Nigeria, set aside by God for greatness: the untold story of June 12 annulment by Adesina Adedipe, on September 2, 2004
THE country does not need machine-intensive construction contracts in all areas at this time. What we need are labour intensive contracts. A laudable example of what I am advocating is the recent step taken by the NCC in pre-selecting small scale companies to bid for the printing of GSM cards. In times past, such giant companies as the mint would have been selected.
Secondly, Nigerian land culture has never been amenable to ranching syndrome. Most of the cocoa and groundnut exported from this country came from small landholdings of about two acres each. Although land is a state responsibility, all the three tiers should get together to evolve an agricultural programme that will involve allocation of state land for agricultural purposes to young graduates prepared to embark on a farming career. Loans must be guaranteed, prices must be guaranteed and purchase and warehousing of produce must be guaranteed.
Thirdly, the government has to revisit the whole issue of subsidy. Let me state from the beginning that I accept that there is still a subsidy regime in place on petroleum products, based on imported landing costs, and not on extraction costs. But given the fact that Nigeria does not have a social security system in place, and given the fact that the price of petroleum affects everything from foodstuffs to housing, the constant gradual withdrawal of subsidy on petroleum products has had a devastating negative impact on the standard of living of Nigerians. Petroleum is the only asset that we have now to cushion poverty in the country. Until we get our agricultural sector back up and running, until we get industries back into full production, we have no choice but to maintain a credible subsidy regime on petroleum way above what it has been reduced to.
Fourthly, an emergency should be declared on the employment sector. I will repeat a suggestion, which I made as far back as 1999. Government should enter into dialogue with the private sector to design an employment package where manufacturers and service providers who employ more than 10 (a negotiable no) will double the employment at Federal Government expense for a two year period which may be regarded as a period of industrial attachment. The products of this programme will benefit from the small and medium scale industrial fund, which is at presently under-utilised in the banks.
Finally, there is a programme, which will tackle the twin problems of security and employment. The problem with institutions which were set up when society was settled and stable is often an inability to adapt to meet emergency needs. Normally, military training institutions take not less than two years to train officers. But during the World War II, officers were being turned out in the United States every six months. While the Nigerian police insists on its regular training programme in the limited number of police colleges, LATMA, KAI and FERMA have all shown that with limited training over a short period, paramilitary forces can be put on hands of the members of regular forces. I suggest that the government should set up a National Guard based on compulsory national service of three years duration for all graduates of post-elementary institutions who graduated in 1999 and above. Institutions by themselves are not bad and mischievous. Therefore, this proposal should not be compared with the 1990s proposal for a National Guard. With a training programme of six months, we should be able to flood Nigerian streets with paramilitary forces to reinforce security and mop up unemployed youths.
The argument against my proposals can be anchored on costs. Government find the funds for mega-projects like the Abuja stadium etc. Besides, we have now built up surplus funds from the mega-rise in the price of crude petroleum. Before these funds are expended on frivolous projects, governments can give serious consideration to these proposals.
Ancient and modern literature is full of admonitions. Proverbs 22:16 warns "if you make gifts for the rich people or oppress the poor to get rich, you will become poor yourself." John F. Kennedy in his famous warning served notice that those who make peaceful changes impossible make violent revolution inevitable. In other words, change is a constant variable of life. The alternative is to have it either peacefully or violently. If people ask for bread, bread should be provided or else it is a revolution, a revolution that in the past led to the beheading of a king and his queen.
|
|
||||||||||||
