AFTER CHANGE WHAT'S NEXT: CHAPTER (2)

AFTER CHANGE WHAT NEXT

CHAPTER TWO

 BABA AND OUR ECONOMY

Some said we are operating capitalism, some said it it is mixed economy, abeg leave all those ones for Dr Mrs Akintunde ( my lecturer at uniosun). Do you know her nickname? Forget,. All I know is any economic system that would put food on my table; not like garri and groundnut.

Time to get serious, how do you run an economy where its external reserve is now below $30 billion; how do you run an economy where its budget for recurrent ex penditure is more than 5 folds of its capital expenditure (2013 and 2014 nigerian budget)?  How do you run an economy where 70% live in abject poverty? How do you run an economy where the minimum wage, when multiplied  by 10 is not up to how much a senator earns? The problems continues. I just hope Mr president-elsct  (at least as at when this is being written) would not find this as Olamide (Badoo) would say 'story for the gods'.

How we have gotten into these mess does not really matter. What matters is how are we going to get out of this mess?

Step I: Ensure co-operation of all parties. More than 30 political padties engaged in the just concluded election definately some of them would have blue prints of how they want the economy to be runned. The highlights of the election was that the major loser congratulated the winner, it hardly happens. Sorry, has it ever happened?

Just like one of my favourite sayings "my first name as Mr president is to make the post unattractive ." Then I look up to myself and say, is that posible?  Okay, that is true. There is nothing imposible for a willing a heart. Why is it that most of all these quote are given by non-Nigerians?

Don't let us divert our attention. Let get into the fact, how do you get 24.9 million out of unemployment?

Unemployment! Unemployment!! Unemployment!!! Makes me remember the snail and its shell ( bi igbin bafa ikarahun atele ). Apology to all my non-yoruba friends, I like it more when I remember "Ogbomosho, my root". When are we going to be free of all this shackles?

APC says in its manifesto; to produce 20,000 jobs in each state, each year. Is this enough ( that is even if they achieve that) my great UNIOSUN, great indeed) produces nothing less than 2 thousand graduates for a year, not to talk of schools like O.A.U Ile-ife, Fountain universityy, Federal politechnic Ede, Oscotech, Ire polytechnic, etc i.e (using Osun State as case study) an we still have deficit of unemployment as at when this book is being written. Omo wahala wa o.

Then, a solution arose on my mind. Self employment in Nigeria is how to make it attractive. How on earth would you make a farmer wear suit; a barbar put on longsleeves and trousers? I don't mean these literary but , I mean the in depth meaning. We should treat the self-employed the same way we treat our so-called white colarjob. After all , our problem began with these white collar jobs self, abi name lie?

I have always believed my country suffers from only one problem, one problem, just one problem and indeed that problem is................corruption. It gives birth to all other  problems. Solve corruption and it would have multiplier effect on others like poverty, unemployment, rural-urban migration, high death rate,insecurity, etc. Then, we can move forward to what........ Fidgeting the hand that fed you (Buhari) or better still breaking those hands if found necessary. And that leads us to curb unemployment through sports .....is that possible. How on earth is that possible. The next chapter says it all.


<Watch out for chapter three.


By: Mustapha Olawale Lukman.
Osun State University, Osogbo, Nigeria.