“Whether it will rise to a nation or sink to a territory rests only with its people”– John Buchan
The agency of transcendence is about
renewal and regeneration of the national ideals and ethos that make for a better society and dignified people who are confident about their future prospects and security. The underlying desire for peace and security by all Nigerians in every part of the country shall define this new agency of integrity in leadership, to be underpinned by vigorous action to secure the lives and possessions of all Nigerians everywhere.
What this agency should represent is the fusion of credibility and experience, of integrity and pedigree, of service delivery and strategic vision for Nigeria, as well as the determination to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat in our historical march towards greatness and global relevance. The transformational agenda that is envisaged in the country’s leadership will entail achieving many factors that have so far remained elusive in our governance and political efforts.
The achievement of collective prosperity as outlined in Chapter Two of the Nigerian Constitution, for instance, is the safest guarantee of our overall security and sense of well-being. It should in fact be the cornerstone of all actions in governance and politics for a defined period of time that it would take to transform Nigeria into a global political and economic power.
Moreover, this agency is about the rapid industrial transformation of Nigeria without which the retardation of the nation’s growth, progress and sustainable development will be prolonged. With industrial transformation however, our politics will also transform from poverty-induced acrimony to prosperity-induced harmony. That is why rapid industrial transformation is the key to our future security and prosperity, while the agency of the political leadership will be the superintendent of that process and its vital incubator.
It is this political and leadership equation that has been missing in Nigeria which will now be provided by the stepping forward of a brave and assertive cadre of politicians to take the mantle and thrust forward the agenda of change to its highest possible level. The overriding consideration is that once a country achieves industrial power status, every other issue becomes relatively easy to solve.
Such issues may consist of the modernisation of agriculture and achieving food security; the lowering of the prices of goods and services; the availability of quality drinking water; the degree of healthcare provisioning; the quality of housing and the environment; the level of technology available for all users; the development of adequate and qualitative infrastructure; the question of a compensatory salary structure for the working class and urban poor; the quality of service of security agencies, the provision of adequate electricity, the establishment of a credible military-industrial complex, the direction of foreign and security policies; the ability of the citizenry to hold the political leadership to account; and whatever else one can think of.
Similarly, contested issues that constitute the spaces of persistent conflict will assume the character of the economy and be resolved along the lines of production, exchange, competition and value addition. Rapid industrialisation may create its own problems quite alright, but not the kind of tension that pervades the nation today. Rather, it will make possible for a less acrimonious atmosphere within which Nigeria can effortlessly and without too many divergent views achieve national consensus on such issues as the role or actual contributions of the different sectors to the national economy, ranging from agriculture, to oil and gas, ICT, banking and finance, services, insurance, MSMEs, real estate, mining, industries and livestock, amongst others.
These factors will also underpin the performance of Nigeria in the world economy, particularly in the oil and gas sectors; and resolve the controversial issue of foreign debts through an expanded addition of revenue to the national coffers. Likewise, the exchange rates of the Naira; commercial bank credits and interest rates; cost of building materials and fertilizer; taxation; customs and excise duties; remittances from diaspora communities and other external sources; flows of foreign direct investment, FDI, payment of subsidies on fuel, easy access to loans and credits and other fiscal issues will easily be resolved within established institutional and policy frameworks. Also, human development driven by expanded social welfare programmes and cost of social protection, labour matters and salary adjustments; access to affordable quality education and healthcare, employment and wealth creation, housing, etc., will propel the integration of the country and drive the peace and security agenda everywhere.
The existential problem of corruption in the national economy and implications for Nigeria’s development will be systematically addressed and resolved while contentious issues like open grazing and pastoral management strategies; advancing the interests of specific groups, particularly amongst them women and the youth can be overcome in regular administration and policy delivery strategies.
Rapid industrialisation and the individual whose leadership has prioritised this, is therefore, what Nigeria is looking for. For now, this is the only hope for the regeneration of Nigeria and the larger spaces occupied by the African and Black Races in the world, whose succour and dignity must now become the burden of leadership in Nigeria. In this case, industrialising Nigeria should be the cornerstone of her foreign and domestic policies and outlooks. It is only in this way that the integration of the country and moving it forward to a higher level of development can be achieved.
The elements of such a policy and the right mix of factors that would conduce towards attaining Nigeria’s rapid social and economic development will have to be identified and articulated clearly as part of the national discourses on leadership, politics and governance. Identifying factors like infrastructure, power, investments, skilled manpower and other indispensable variables should now be the focus of governments and the political actors.
Harnessing the specific specialisations of the Nigerian private sector together with the outlooks of the public sector, especially the fiscal and monetary institutions, should make for the general frameworks around which the indusrialisation of Nigeria can be realised. Backbone industries like the power sector, the Ajaokuta Steel Complex, the various steel rolling mills and paper mills in the country, the fertilizer plants, refineries and petrochemical plants, vehicle and tractor assembly plants, and other key manufacturing hubs dotted across the country that have been left moribund for decades, will now have to be resuscitated and brought back on stream if value is to be added to our national economic development.
Finally, careful attention will need to be paid to the relevant institutional and governmental structures that should drive this anticipated industrial regeneration of Nigeria. The alignment of appropriate policies with the relevant institutional capacities and capabilities will mean the attainment of the national dream for greatness within a relatively short period of time and space, with reduced expenditures on deviations and other avoidable mistakes.
Thus, reorganising of the monetary and fiscal institutions and other relevant agencies, both in the public and private sectors, can be the first step towards the actualisation of the industrial revolution in Nigeria. Creating a pool of competencies across the required ranges of development will be an additional requirement towards making Nigeria really great and prosperous.
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