Not until I came across this topic many years ago in the MBA class at Enugu Campus (UNEC) , I never appreciated the many influences and powers of a ruling government over the existing business concerns (especially the “giants” among the business class). It became very vivid that, just with a fiscal policy, laws & regulations from the government in power, the fortunes of an existing business concern could either be marred or favored overnight, in any given regime. The government wields so much power that will either determine the future or the direction of success/failure any organization could record at any given point in time. Very practical examples are the many experiences of the Ibeto group (for instance) with respect to cement importations during former President Obasanjo’s regime and the dramatic turnaround immediately late President Yar’Adua assumed office (on the same matter). Another supporting evidence that will buttress the point being made bare is the most recent development in the banking sector, where the governor of the Central Bank (the CBN), Lamido Sanusi used the authorities vested on him to recover the three nationalized banks (Afribank, Spring bank and the Bank PHB).
The just concluded public hearing of the senate ad-hoc committee (led by Senator Ahmed Lawan) investigating the activities of the past administrations on the various conducts of the Bureau for Public Enterprises (BPE) with respect to privatization & commercialization, opened a can of worm with the news now put on the front burner. The excesses, the skirmishes and the poor conducts of some public servants that were publicly exposed and dramatized at various sessions by those called upon to testify; left too many unimaginable questions that demand immediate and urgent answers for the overall good of our nation’s future economic growth and development. The manner with which the companies were sold out for a chicken fee is unwholesome. Quoting Mallam El-Rufai, “between 1970-1999, Nigeria spent over $100 billion building companies but only got 0.5% of that amount back as return on investment”. He went further to testify that the privatization program saved Nigeria N265 billion annually. This revelation is bizarre and incredible! What a draining bottomless-pit? In simple terms, business is the activity of making money (making profit or generating revenue) by producing or buying & selling goods or providing services. From the above information given, the return on investment after 29 years was just a paltry sum that amounted to only 0.5% of the total investments made within the given period. In addition to that, the government still wasted N265 billion annually in the name of cost of running and maintaining already failed businesses. This is indeed clear madness, not just wickedness only. Do we mean to argue or say that those at the helm of affairs in those establishments were inept, or simply blind-folded by the corrupt practices in the system that they couldn’t detect that their futile operations were intentionally being run at a loss, year in year out? Honestly, one is personally dazed with such startling revelation to be real in this 21st century.
Every business entity (both the government owned and the privately owned ventures) has a responsibility to make the state better. Government and business ideally work together for the good of all, especially when high-principled leaders are elected into office along side other appointed public servants. This is because their stewardship in service is expected to serve as an influence for good in the society. These good conducts are generally expected of our leaders (as responsible citizens) to live above board by showing good examples with moral standards, excellence, commitment and patriotism. Our public officials in government owned businesses (the Parastatals and the Agencies) are supposed to discharge their duties without fear or favor but, must be just in doing the right thing at all times. This is the only way return on investments, the state’s economy and the welfare of the citizens could be positively influenced and guaranteed for the overall prosperity in the system.
The President has just inaugurated the economic team, with the Finance Minister, Dr (Mrs) Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala as the coordinator. The key ministries like Agriculture, Power, Works, Transport, Mines & Steel Development, Tourism, Petroleum, Communication Technology, Foreign Affairs and Trade & Investment among others not mentioned; are expected to operate within the next four years in an impressive manner that the economic growth and productivity shall record and post unprecedented performances ever since the history of the nation. Of course, that is the underlining factor for the regime’s transformation charter. Their strategy shall definitely base on well mapped out plan for hard-work, much improved business-like performances, best practices of running profit-oriented ventures, efficiency and high financial prudence in government spending (effective fiscal policies) and lastly, an aggressive foreign policy that shall emphasize most on economic bilateral ties with other nations.
Investors in our economy could only be encouraged if, stable policies that shall make their businesses grow, be secured and also be prosperous are constantly being reminded of such by the information arm of the government through adverts (both electronic and print); business seminars and expos (awareness creation) by all our foreign missions all over the globe. The economic growth by the government of the day does not require redundancy from any concerned government official but , it calls for a dedicated service where government officials (in their respective relevant sectors of the economy) go all out to sensitize, market prospective investors and attract them to open shops on our soils for business operations. We saw a wonderful example in David Cameron (the British Prime Minister) during his last visit in the country. We all must accept the basic fact that, if investments (both government owned and the private ventures) in the land do not constantly post net-profit (either due to one reason or the other), the nation’s economic growth would be at a risk with respect to overall prosperity of the diverse export-oriented operations in the near future.
Sunny C. Nwachukwu
Onitsha
