Way Out Of Economic Meltdown

For sometime now, one melodious song in the world is the global financial crisis otherwise known as economic meltdown.

So much emphasis has been placed on it that Nigeria has produced so many professors of global financial crisis within the last one year.

One peculiar thing about Nigeria is that whenever there is crisis in country, people tend to take advantage of it to make money. They organise various seminars and conferences and will invite people that matter in the country to make speeches that will be thrown into the thrash can at the end.

Take the Niger Delta issue for instance, we have witnessed countless seminars, summits, workshops on the issue with so many fine speeches and fine talks from people both within and outside the region on the matter, yet the problem has persisted.

And while the people are yet to recover from the war that is going on between restive youths and the Joint Task Force, we are confronted with another monster called economic meltdown.

In the last one year, several workshops, seminars and summits including conferences have been held in the nation with several communiqués, resolutions on the issue of global financial crisis. Yet there is no solution in sight.

The implication of this on our socio-economic development is palpable projects which ought to have been completed in one year to four years, would be carried over.

Salaries and emoluments of Nigerians will not be paid while new jobs will not be created. Even, investment will not be possible, because people will be scared to invest their hard earned money for fear of losses due to the financial crisis.

For any one who cares to know, the so-called economic meltdown came as a result of large scale fraud and corruption which were swept under the carpet for decades until recently when the issue became a source of concern as most corporate institutions became bankrupt in advanced countries, leading to tremendous job losses in these countries.

If not for the reforms which the former President Olusegun Obasanjo carried out in the banking sector which led to the consolidation of banks, our country would have been seriously and adversely impacted by the monster called global financial crisis.

To solve this problem of economic meltdown and to reduce its impact on the economy, the Nigerian government should step up measures that will protect our banks from collapsing. Banks should avoid practices that will only benefit few to the detriment of the economy. The reports that most banks are lending to some states and local governments beyond their capital base is unhealthy and dangerous.

Also, there should be deliberate effort to invest in agriculture which can in turn give birth to agro-allied industries and also create jobs for the people. For example oil palm seedlings can produce palm oil which can be used to produce soap and other items, just as oranges and pineapple can be used to produce juice and save the country from amount expended on importation. It is obvious that agriculture has a very big potential for economic revival. Let us invest in it.

If Nigeria continues with this practice of sitting down idle, waiting for oil monies to be shared among the three tiers of government, before they could build roads, pay salaries of workers and equip the police and the army to fight crime, then one day, we shall wake up to find out that it is too late for us.

Already, there are reports that several countries have started producing electric cars and are looking for alternative sources of energy to power their homes, industries and cities. This means as time goes on, oil will one day dry up and Nigeria would be left stranded. God forbid!

As for the youths in Niger Delta, they should drop gun and embrace education, for education is the key to escape ignorance, failure, servitude and frustration.

Asemebo wrote in from Port Harcourt.