With many citizens becoming afraid to go to farms, I expect 2022 to be exceedingly challenging in Nigeria. No matter whatever they publish, I will struggle to believe any number that shows that agricultural productivity or output has gone up. So, if there is any time to plan for interventions, this moment calls for one. But instead of going for loans, state governments in Nigeria can design a playbook around their diasporas. Yes, find a framework to get those living in North America, Europe and beyond to support the state, via market systems which drive economic developments.
This is my recommendation for the states:
- Build institutions and demonstrate probity and accountability in the state affairs.
- Design and develop protocols to reach all Diasporas from the state. A dedicated ministry to track them from village to village, and open a roadmap to reconnect them to the state vision.
- Open Sam Mbakwe’s Playbook: share with them where you are going, the resources you have, and what you need from them.
- Provide massive incentives to shape how they allocate investment capital
- When they commit by supporting your government through market systems, sustain the loop, and stay accountable.
The fact is this: Nigerian states are at inflection points and they need new playbooks to unlock new vistas of growth. Looking at the paralysis at the center, they need to work harder to tap into massive knowledge and economic wealth of their diasporas.
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At no time in the history of this nation has its best export become agents to drive its future. State governments should work harder to create a multiplier effect, and get some of our well positioned citizens around the world to help drive developments.
It was a very common instruction from the headmaster: tell your parents to give you money by next Monday as the governor has asked us to request for more donations. Yes, the governor of Imo State, Sam Mbakwe, has sent notes to all citizens to send him money to build an airport. Someone shared a partial list of the donors. I knew that I contributed 25 kobo. Someone commented on the post: “I contributed as well. Millions across the East contributed. School children – nursery, primary and secondary students contributed.”
In my Platform presentation, I asked this question: “How many of you will contribute money and send it to a current governor in Nigeria?” Interestingly, President Buhari found those men corrupt, as he took them out via a coup. Now, see what we have where corruption is now Article xx in the constitution!
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That market system is always the missing link whenever we shout development here, people’s economic status don’t magically improve because you built roads or provided electricity, you must equally advance economic structures that make their utilization productive.
We think too much about politics here, and that’s why the productivity level remains disappointing. For now we still struggle to pay attention to things that matter, because we are utterly misguided.
A State like Akwa Ibom has immense potential and everything to become one of the major economies in Africa, but an average youth there still believes that economic prosperity can only come through political patronage, it’s something I find very absurd and disappointing.
Another thing is knowing how to sell, most state governors are actually bereft of ideas and any tangible execution capabilities, no matter how much we blame Nigeria’s constitution. We simply do not measure up in so many ways, so it’s a call for every Nigerian to go for soul searching; we continue to disappoint.