After an indept study of the historical development of African countries especially their post-colonial economies, Prof. Claude Ake in his famous book A Political Economy of Africa published in 1981 predicted: “The present state of economic stagnation will continue, deepening class contradictions and causing governmental instability but not necessarily sparking off revolution in the foreseeable future. In the event of such protracted stagnation, the politics of anxiety will become institutionalised, increasingly; the ruling class will display signs of paranoia while the subordinate classes become frustrated, demoralised, and available for induction into extremist, though not necessarily radical movements”.

Apparently, it is difficult to dismiss Prof. Ake’s prediction considering the ever increasing rate of unemployment, mass poverty; poor health, limited education, infrastructural decay and general sense of hopelessness among Nigerians.

And structurally, the key sectors of the economy especially agriculture, manufacturing, electricity, water, education, transportation, and health have remained as poor and backward, if not worse, 30 years after the prediction.

In recent years, several groups have emerged venting venom on government and destroying lives and property.

As I write this piece, the Niger Delta area is still being combed to apprehend militants who have not embraced the amnesty programme of the federal government and the search for kidnappers who have been terrrorising the length and breadth of the country is on.

As I write this piece, the federal government is doing everything possible to grapple with the security challenge posed by Boko Haram, a group that has been bombing parts of the northern part of the country particularly churches, police stations, and government establishments. At the weekend, the group struck in Yobe and Borno States killing about 150 persons.

In October last year, Abuja was bombed while the nation was celebrating its 50th Independence with heads of government from all over the world present in the city and on August 26, 2011, the United Nations House was also bombed.

What about the mass of unemployed school leavers who have become frustrated, the various trade unions which are demanding better conditions of service for their members, and the various ethnic nationalities and communities which are asking for crumbs of their God-given natural resources being expropriated as a national cake?

These groups are becoming increasingly agitated over the failure of the nation to meet their needs. According to media reports, a suit has recently been filed by the Ogale community in Ogoniland against the Royal Dutch Shell Plc in the United States for $1 billion (N150 billion) for the company’s damage of their environment over the years.

Strictly speaking, Nigeria has wasted the past years on a merry- go – ground of programmes and policies that have benefited only the power elite and other privileged groups. And this has brewed up serious discontent among the masses of the people.

So can the much-talked about Sovereign Wealth Funds (SWFs)  rescue Nigeria from its socio-economic morass? According to the Finance Minister, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, the major objectives of the fund include: “Saving for the future, investment in the strategic infrastructure and building of a buffer shock..”

The need for Nigeria to create SWFs can not be over-emphasised considering the fact that the country depends on raw material exports such as oil, gas, tin, columbite, etc which are non-renewable and whose prices are volatile. And by their nature and channels which include stocks, bonds, precious metals, and real estate, SWFs are distinct and potentially valuable instruments for fulfilling the objectives of public policy and programmes.

Better still, as I observed in my piece of penultimate week titled: Investment: Aganga’s Tough Challenges, in the face of the deficiency of private saving and investment in the country, the burden of raising the requisite funds to finance the nation’s socio-economic development rests squarely on government. So the SWFs will encourage forced savings and protect the national wealth against expenditure based on political considerations and decisional ad hocism. In Nigeria, some political office holders would yield to political expediency without considering the repercussions of their actions on long-term planning. SWFs would checkmate such government functionaries.

It has also been posited that the SWFs will be a propelling force for the country’s growth and development particularly in the areas of electric power supply, road construction, housing, health, and education.

Besides, in recent years, more and more countries (both developed and developing) are creating the SWFs as a potent tool for the socio-economic upliftment of their people.

But reaping the full benefits of the SWFs whose account has been reportedly opened with an initial capital of $1 billion will be contingent upon several factors including fiscal prudence, consistent policy on investment, accountability, transparency, compromise among the various levels of government and other stakeholders, as well as efficient, effective, and selfless leadership.

In the final analysis, the Nigerian State needs more than SWFs to rescue itself from its economic doldrums. The country needs a complete and radical overhaul of its economy as of the total society. It needs reforms, programmes, and policies that can boost competitiveness, expand the economy, create more job opportunities, open itself to the world market, and clean up the corruption faeces that have polluted the land.

Above all, Nigeria needs an exemplary leadership which remains the foundation for the survival and progress of any nation.