Democratising Economic Development

The Nigeria Bar
Associatio (NBA), held its national conference in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, recently. The theme of the Conference was : “Democracy and Economic Development”. The theme has great implications for Nigeria’s current economic state.
For the NBA to have chosen this topic actually should be a wake-up call on the President Muhammadu Buhari –led government to rise to the challenge of its change agenda. In fact, nobody needs to be told that Nigeria’s economy is bad, as even the deaf and the blind are aware of the present situation in which Nigerians find themselves.
The great African novelist, late Chinua Achebe, said: “The trouble with Nigeria is simply and squarely a failure of leadership. There is nothing basically wrong with the Nigerian character. There is nothing wrong with the Nigerian land or climate or water or air or anything else. The Nigerian problem is the unwillingness or inability of its leaders to rise to the responsibility, to the challenge of personal example which are the hallmarks of true leadership”.
Any government or leadership that seeks to tie down things rather than leave things open in the democratic bargain impoverishes the country and the citizens. Currently in Nigeria, everyone apart from the political top class is on edge. The government is unable to provide prosperity and economic growth for the citizens. Democracy and economic development must have some sort of connection, just as democracy and a variety of policies are derived from the same ideology. A comparative study of politics shows that prosperous countries are much more likely to be democratic than poor countries are. For instance, of the 97 nations that became independent between 1960 and 2000, only 24 had an uninterrupted record of electoral democratic government at that time, and most of them were prosperous industrialised countries whose people could more easily afford to compromise on the “democratic bargain”.
Democratic system of government fosters economic growth than non-democratic ones, so countries that are democracies become more prosperous over time than non-democracies, though poor states such as India, Jamaica, Malta, Botswana and Costa Rica had steady histories of democratic government. However, states certainly vary in how well they provide prosperity and economic growth for their citizens. To understand why Nigeria seems to be so poor, we must first ask why the country is so unproductive. Nigeria’s problem is that it does not turn its abundant mineral resources to manufactured goods and hardly does any country buy Nigeria’s software or insurance and so on. Since independence, Nigeria’s governments have failed their people. They hardly allow the ordinary citizens or indigenous manufacturers the freedom to seek their own fortunes without official harassment.
Unfortunately, predatory governments such as Nigeria’s, make the people poorer because they rarely uphold the rule of law, execute contracts, or safeguard property rights. An authoritarian government stifles a nation’s ability to create wealth by not implementing laid down policies capable of helping the economy. Nigeria is fabulously well endowed with precious minerals, which is one reason so many people fight for a share of power. The country has terrific agricultural potentials: fertile land, sun when the northern hemisphere is frosty and cheap labour. The country also has a comparative advantage in textiles, which are simple to make but require lots of labour. By exporting crops and shirts to rich countries, Nigeria can start on the path to economic growth. Depending on imported goods and textiles is not helpful to the country.
Nigeria’s lopsided relationship with the rest of the world has made it depend on aid, which has failed to bring any change in the economy and poverty level. Nigeria cannot claim to be the largest economy when hunger and poverty are ravaging the entire place. It is said that aid to poor countries is always wasted and that is why aid is only good if directed to countries with sound economic policies and functioning institutions of government. Nigeria can do well and quickly too, if it rips down or removes its trade barriers.
Nigeria, as one of the prominent democracies in the world, should learn to subsidise their own farmers to encourage high productivity. Nigeria needs more successful businesses devoid of tricks and corruption. In Nigeria, local firms had been held back by arbitrary government dysfunctional legal systems and taxes, customs duty and the difficulty for those without political connections to raise capital. Many Nigerian firms will prosper if these obstacles are removed.
Democracy grows economy in much the same way as individuals do, by making things that other countries want to buy or providing services that others will pay for. Nigeria inherited wealth and is rich with a lot of oil and many citizens unlike some countries with oil and less citizens. The route of prosperity is thrift, hardwork and finding out what other people want in order to sell it to them. Britain for example, first grew rich in the 19th century, by using newly invented industrial techniques to produce cheaper and better textiles, steel, railways and other goods, which both locals and foreigners were keen to buy. Japan grew rich in the 20th century by adapting and improving manufacturing techniques invented elsewhere, in order to make better and cheaper cars, semi-conductors and fax machines. America is the world’s richest democratic country today because so many people crave American movies, machines, airplanes and banking services.
Any democracy must be people-oriented and development-driven, with elaborate realistic economic policies. Lack of strong political will by leaders to adopt and adapt to new technologies and ideas has been slowing down the economic development of Nigeria. The government does not see the necessity to train and utilise our engineers and technicians and no original innovations are produced in Nigeria. Nigeria as a democracy must embrace new technologies for advancement and grow its economy beyond oil. Swaziland and Madagascar have Internet Café’s and pirated anti-malarial drugs and these devices change people’s lives with less effort.
It takes wise leadership to make things happen in a country. We must stop blaming previous administrations for our woes. Rather, we should forge ahead. Nigeria can prosper in the long-run but it will take honesty and absolute determination by those in power to make things happen in this country. Our democracy can make the transition from poverty and hunger to comfort and prosperity if the political, legal and economic arrangements are properly coordinated and enforced. These things are not secret but the issue is the indecision and inability of the leaders to find out how best to do it and tackle it squarely.

Shedie Okpara