Business
A House Divided: Can Nigeria’s Economy Thrive Amidst Political Dysfunction?
This perspective overlooks the reality that economic policies, however well-intentioned, are invariably shaped by the political context in which they are implemented.
Nigeria faces an enduring dilemma—whether the economy or politics should take precedence. Recent developments have brought this issue to the fore once again. President Bola Tinubu, faced with calls for constitutional reform, deferred the matter, citing economic challenges as his primary focus. Meanwhile, Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, in her speech at the Nigerian Bar Association, called for a social contract rooted in economic fundamentals, while sidestepping the topic of political restructuring. Both interventions, though seemingly at odds, miss a crucial point: economic reform cannot thrive without addressing the country’s deep-seated political flaws.
Tinubu’s dismissal of the call for a new constitution reflects a broader issue within Nigeria’s governance framework. By prioritising economic reform over political change, he presumes that economic stability can be achieved in isolation. This perspective overlooks the reality that economic policies, however well-intentioned, are invariably shaped by the political context in which they are implemented. History has shown that economic reform is sustainable only within a political structure that fosters accountability, transparency, and inclusiveness. Without this, economic initiatives risk becoming superficial, serving to perpetuate the very inequities they are meant to resolve.
READ ALSO: Hardship: ‘Suspend All Policies Impoverishing Nigerians’, NASME Begs Tinubu
Naira Hits Six-month Low In Official FX Market, Prof. Steve Hanke Slams Tinubu
Dr Okonjo-Iweala’s omission of political restructuring in her vision for a social contract is similarly problematic. The concept of a social contract inherently demands a political framework that guarantees citizens’ rights and establishes a basis for mutual trust. In successful democracies, social contracts are built upon political settlements that reflect the aspirations of the populace. South Africa’s post-apartheid constitution is a case in point. It was not merely an economic arrangement but a political accord that laid the groundwork for economic and social policy. In Nigeria’s case, the absence of such a political settlement renders the idea of a social contract aspirational at best.
The intricate dance between politics and economics is not a novel concept, yet it seems to have been deliberately overlooked in contemporary policy discourse, particularly in Nigeria. Economists and political scientists, often confined to their respective silos, have neglected the interconnectedness of these two vital forces. This myopic approach to nation-building has cast a long shadow over Nigeria, where economic reform is frequently hailed as a panacea while political instability festers unchecked.
The relationship between politics and economics is a cornerstone of nation-building. Nigeria’s recent history echoes this relationship, demonstrating how the prevailing political climate can profoundly influence the nation’s economic trajectory. A government operating without a sturdy foundation of democratic institutions is ill-equipped to achieve sustained economic growth. The correlation is undeniable: nations with robust political systems also boast resilient economies. Investors, both domestic and foreign, delve beyond economic indicators, scrutinising the political risks that could jeopardise the security of their investments. Political stability, the rule of law, and institutional integrity are non-negotiable prerequisites for fostering economic confidence.
President Tinubu’s assertion that economic reform is his “first priority” is, therefore, a deflection rather than a solution. While economic reforms are undoubtedly necessary, they cannot substitute for the foundational work of political restructuring. Nigeria’s current political framework, marked by centralization, lack of transparency, and systemic corruption, has historically impeded economic progress. Reforming this framework is not a distraction from economic goals; it is a prerequisite for achieving them.
“Nigeria’s current political framework, marked by centralization, lack of transparency, and systemic corruption, has historically impeded economic progress.”
Likewise, Dr Okonjo-Iweala’s vision of a social contract, while commendable, must grapple with the reality that such a contract cannot be forged in a political vacuum. A genuine social contract in Nigeria would necessitate an inclusive political settlement—one that addresses the country’s ethnic, regional, and economic disparities. Without this political foundation, calls for a social contract risk being reduced to mere rhetoric, unanchored to the realities of governance and societal dynamics.
The path forward for Nigeria demands a holistic approach that acknowledges the interdependence of economic reform and political restructuring. Economic policies should be crafted within a framework that promotes political stability, institutional integrity, and social inclusiveness. This requires difficult but necessary conversations about Nigeria’s political future—conversations that extend beyond economic indicators to the very heart of governance and accountability.
The future of Nigeria hangs in the balance as its leaders contemplate the path forward. To persist with an isolated approach to economic reform, deluding themselves into believing it can mend the deep fissures within the political terrain, is to disregard the lessons of history. Sustainable progress can only be achieved when economic policies are firmly grounded in a political context that supports their implementation and benefits all citizens. The economy is not an isolated entity operating in a vacuum, nor can politics function independently of economic realities. Nigeria must recognize that true reform lies in the intricate interplay between these two critical dimensions.
Business
As Nigerians Battle Pains Of Soaring Petrol Price
This is more than just about fuel; it’s about the larger picture of governance failure. The fact that a country as oil-rich as Nigeria can’t provide affordable fuel for its people is a tragedy.
BY IFEANYI MOGBOLU
The Daily Times-The latest fuel price hike in Nigeria is beyond frustrating. Every time we think it can’t get worse, it does, and yet again, ordinary Nigerians bear the brunt of it.
It’s like a never-ending cycle, where the government’s promises of reforms or stabilisation always end up as empty rhetoric. The cost of living is already sky-high, and now, with fuel prices rising again, transport fares, food prices, and basic commodities are bound to follow suit.
It’s enraging because it doesn’t feel like anyone is truly considering the everyday citizen who is struggling just to survive.
This is more than just about fuel; it’s about the larger picture of governance failure. The fact that a country as oil-rich as Nigeria can’t provide affordable fuel for its people is a tragedy. The subsidies are gone, and now we’re left in a situation where the prices of everything keep climbing, while salaries remain stagnant or non-existent for many.
The disparity between the elites and the masses is growing, and it feels like nobody in power truly cares about the suffering of the people.
READ ALSO: NNPC Lied About Pump Price, Our Fuel Is 15% Cheaper Than NNPCL’s Imported Ones — Dangote
Hardship: ‘Suspend All Policies Impoverishing Nigerians’, NASME Begs Tinubu
Naira Hits Six-month Low In Official FX Market, Prof. Steve Hanke Slams Tinubu
The anger isn’t just about fuel; it’s about the entire state of living. Nigerians are exhausted. There’s no sense of security; power supply is erratic, basic infrastructure is crumbling, and inflation is at an all-time high. How do we live like this? Every day is a battle to make ends meet, and the government seems utterly disconnected from the struggles on the ground.
It’s infuriating that while politicians and elites live in luxury, the rest of us are left scrambling for the bare minimum. The state of living is unbearable, and the lack of empathy or real action from those in power only adds salt to the wound.
There’s a deep sense of anger and betrayal that comes with seeing your country’s wealth mismanaged, while the people continue to suffer. It’s hard not to feel like we are constantly being taken for granted, pushed further into hardship without any hope of relief. Something has to give, because this state of affairs is unsustainable.
QUOTE:
The anger isn’t just about fuel; it’s about the entire state of living. Nigerians are exhausted. There’s no sense of security; power supply is erratic, basic infrastructure is crumbling, and inflation is at an all-time high. How do we live like this? Every day is a battle to make ends meet, and the government seems utterly disconnected from the struggles on the ground. It’s infuriating that while politicians and elites live in luxury, the rest of us are left scrambling for the bare minimum.
Business
Nigeria To Receive $5.600,000 From Bill Gates, For Health And Agricultural Reforms, GMOs
Alongside the activities surrounding the 79th United Nations General Assembly in New York, Vice President Kashim Shettima held a meeting with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation leading to the announcement of the donation by the Foundation’s head of Global Development.
Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation is giving Nigeria through Vice President Kashim Shettima, a $5.600,000 funds to speedy up health and agricultural reforms in favour of the GMOs in Nigeria, and flood relief.
Through the Foundation’s head of Global Development Programme, Dr Christopher Elias, Bill Gates pledged $5 million grant approved for Lagos Business School and partners to develop the agricultural economics they called “industrial cassava” and $600,000 for flood relief in Borno State and other health sector initiatives.
Alongside the activities surrounding the 79th United Nations General Assembly in New York, Vice President Kashim Shettima held a meeting with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation leading to the announcement of the donation by the Foundation’s head of Global Development.
Recall that on 4 September, Bill Gates had described the Nigeria’s economy as “stagnated” and proposed agricultural reforms for faster and increased growths in crops, fruits, vegetables amongst others to enhance nutritional values of the Nigerian citizens through the agricultural sector.
In that meeting Chaired by Vice President Kashim Shettima, Bill gates urged Nigeria to adopt “innovative crop varieties with shorter growing periods, higher yields, and better pest resistance” pointing to the GMOs to address the food crisis.
READ ALSO: Bill Gates, Anthony Fauci and conspiracy theories (part 2)
Nigeria’s economy stagnated – Bill Gates
Nigeria Is Not Meant To Exist, A Collateral Damage And British Royal Niger Corporation -Burna Boy
Moreover, at the 79th UN General Assembly in New York, VP Shettima reaffirmed to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the commitment of the administration of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu prioritizing health, nutrition, and agricultural development in Nigeria’s national agenda.
In a statement by Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Communications, Office of the Vice President, Stanley Nkwocha, Shettima said: “we are deeply committed to addressing the pressing developmental challenges facing our nation, particularly the significant malnutrition crisis”.
He emphasised the Federal Government’s dedication and urgently working to secure locations for maize production under the Telemaze programme.
VP Shettima, promising swift action to the Gate’s Foundation on import permits for certified seeds, the VP said, “We recognize the critical importance of food security and industrial agricultural development. The Cassava Accelerator programme, in particular, holds immense potential for our economy.
“We are pursuing a whole-of-government approach to digitisation and data exchange systems, which we believe will revolutionise our public services,” he added while reiterating the government’s focus and commitment to digital transformation.
“With the expertise” of Nigeria’s ministers, “and the continued support of partners like the Gates Foundation,” the nation remains confident in its “ability to drive meaningful change and improve the lives of all Nigerians.”
In his response, President of the Global Development Programme at the Gates Foundation, Dr. Christopher Elias, said the Foundation is burdened with worries of the severe flooding in Borno, and is “committed to supporting Nigeria in times of crisis.”
Speaking of Polio, the Foundation said, “We’re impressed by the national task force’s efforts to eliminate variant polioviruses by year-end,” Dr. Elias noted.
Also, President of Global Growth & Opportunity Division at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Rodger Voorhies, detailed plans for scaling up drought-tolerant maize production and advancing the Nigeria Cassava Investment Accelerator programme emphasizing that a $5 million grant has been approved for Lagos Business School and partners to develop the agricultural economics of industrial cassava.
In his words, “Industrial cassava presents a multi-billion-dollar opportunity for Nigeria,” Voorhees stressed.
He requested import permits for 5,000 metric tons of certified GMO maize seed to build a foundation seed system in Nigeria.
Business
Managing, Leading, Building Institutions And Sustainability
The two primary tasks of a top-level leader are to exploit and explore the organisation with people for now and in the future.
By Babs Olugbemi
One of my concerns for leaders is their capacity to be ambidextrous. Regardless of years of experience, knowledge, and leadership capacity, the lack of a clear distinction between managing and leading on the one hand, leading and building institutions on the second layer, and ultimately focussing on sustainability is a significant threat to successful leadership change.
I have followed events and people at C-suites, coached some, and developed frameworks for leadership development. Based on the personalities and styles of the new leaders, I have confirmed my fears about leadership sustainability in most African organisations.
“Successful leaders can aptly differentiate themselves and their roles without necessarily seeing activities as performance, focussing on what is required of them with appropriate tenacity and influence.”
The challenge for leaders is how to lead for the present and future without losing sight of the stakeholders’ immediate performance expectations. Successful leaders can aptly differentiate themselves and their roles without necessarily seeing activities as performance, focussing on what is required of them with appropriate tenacity and influence.
READ ALSO: Leadership, not God responsible for Africa’s poverty
Afrocentric colonialism: The new face of African oppression
Health: Genotype And Compatibility, Phenotype, Blood Groups And DNA
In my walk as a leadership coach, I have keenly observed leaders who are managing rather than leading. Managing involves ensuring that processes achieve their intended outcomes. Leaders are above managing and should focus on creating an enabling environment for innovation, inventions, and team collaboration. The primary role in leading is not to monitor process outcomes, though critical to the company’s overall objectives, but to align corporate values with the people’s aspirations to create an engaged and ownership-thinking mindset ready to take on challenges and explore opportunities. An alignment of corporate and personal goals will not only deliver the present performance expectations. Still, it will also incubate innovations to adapt to future market demands and the sustainability of the business.
Unfortunately, the capacity for ambidexterity is rare and often marked by leaders’ exposure, approach and styles, perception, and perspective of their roles in the organisation. A leader with a wrong foundation in these areas is set for failure and awaits unfavourable decisions from the board of directors. A top-level leader might manage their teams instead of leading them. Not all leaders can combine leading for the present with building institutions. However, anyone able to submit themselves to an institution-building mechanism can champion sustainability. Aside from being a leadership coach, I help leaders achieve sustainability.
Mathematically, creating an ambidextrous organisation is beyond leading. It is to lead and build an institution that focuses on sustainability in all aspects of the organisation—employee fulfilment, customer retention, strategy effectiveness, performance evaluation, stakeholder management, process improvement, and goal congruence.
In a nutshell, the role of successful leaders in ambidextrous organisations is striking a balance between exploiting current assets and capabilities to ensure short-term success and allocating enough energy and resources to exploration to ensure future viability. The two primary tasks of a top-level leader are to exploit and explore the organisation with people for now and in the future. The two seemingly contradictory aspects—exploitation and exploration—encompass different strategies and processes and have different targets and outcomes (March 1991; O’Reilly & Tushman, 2004; O’Reilly & Tushman, 2013).
O’Reilly and Tushman described the two concepts as follows:
- Exploiting: Exploiting involves building on an organisation’s achievements and maximising returns on previous investments. It focuses on responding to current business demands to remain efficient and competitive within an established market niche, as well as on maintaining an existing customer base and stakeholder relationships. Examples of exploiting are activities focused on continuous improvement, benchmarking, and redesigning business processes.
- Exploring: Exploring focuses on expanding an organisation’s knowledge and capabilities, pioneering new products and services, and discovering and venturing into untapped markets.
The common area of practical bottlenecks in exploiting and exploring in organisations is a need for foundational trust and cohesion among the resources, especially the human capital, which are often treated as costs rather than assets to the organisations. Among all the factors of production, only humans can be ambidextrous with the capacity to think about changes in economic parameters and adjust their behaviours to match the time, content, and contextual requirements.
While organisations might have the resources to deploy in fighting competition, technology to obtain first-mover advantages, and production capacity to maximise output from input, none is compared with the potential of an engaged workforce.
Therefore, for leaders to be successful, they must refrain from operating in the realm of managing. They should operate in the capacity of institution builders, with the mindset of creating sustainable leadership and growth with people first and other factors of production second.
Consequently, only the leaders who prioritise their people over profits, pride, and organisational arrogance will be successful in the long term.
Tinubu Refused To Honour Our Agreement To Release Nnamdi Kanu After Election– Kanu’s Brother
US ELECTION: Trump Escapes Three Assassination Attempts, What Next As Date Draws Near?
Sean Diddy Combs In The Eyes Of The Storm
$800m oil fraud: resign as Petroleum Minister – Frank tells Buhari, asks for probe
PROPHECY: Powerful Prophecies for Mazi Nnamdi Kanu and Chief John Nnia Nwodo by Pst. Maxwell Nnawuihe (Text & Video)
BREAKING: Dragon Flag Can’t Come Down, You Must Allow Our Brave Men To Do Their Job – Nnamdi Kanu
-
News5 years ago$800m oil fraud: resign as Petroleum Minister – Frank tells Buhari, asks for probe
-
Biafra5 years agoPROPHECY: Powerful Prophecies for Mazi Nnamdi Kanu and Chief John Nnia Nwodo by Pst. Maxwell Nnawuihe (Text & Video)
-
Biafra5 years agoBREAKING: Dragon Flag Can’t Come Down, You Must Allow Our Brave Men To Do Their Job – Nnamdi Kanu
-
Business8 years agoNEWS PAPER HEADLINES FOR TODAY THURSDAY 28 SEPT 2017
-
Business4 years agoFUEL: PPPRA removes new petrol price post as NNPC insists no hike
-
Business7 years agoSuspected Fulani militia kill two in fresh Taraba attacks
-
Biafra5 years agoVIDEO: Powerful Prophecies for Mazi Nnamdi Kanu and Chief John Nnia Nwodo by Pastor Maxwell Nnawuihe
-
News6 years agoA fatal accident along Benin/Auchi express way has claimed the lives of an entire family while traveling for Christmas.