You shall know the Truth and the truth shall make you free”. In the subject context, only the Truth about our economic predicament and the route to get out of it can set us free from the affliction of national reproaches engendered by our economic situation.
Recovery is a return to normal state of health, prosperity, mind or strength. While there is no fixed or universal standard for measuring or determining normalcy, abnormality is discernible. This is particularly so, where existing situation or circumstances deviate from the norm. The norm can be socially or constitutionally deducible. The Nigerian Constitution in section 14(1) provides that the Nigerian state shall be based on “the principles of democracy and social justice”; while stipulating in section 14(2)(b) that; “the security and welfare of the people shall be the primary purpose of government”.
From the foregoing, the principles of democracy and social justice constitute the basis of the Nigerian state. Regrettably, the ignorance or misconception of the dynamics of these concepts is culpable for the lapses in legislative acts, executive policies and judicial processes and the socio-economic condition of the nation. While both concepts are mutually dependent, it is the actual practice of democracy that ensures social justice. Unfortunately, democracy is pervasively, misconstrued and limited to the exercise of electoral franchise. Contrary, to this notion, political activism or constitutional civilian governance is not what defines democracy’
Democracy, which is participatory governance, presupposes that everyone is a participant in the government or the governance processes. The only process that can guarantee the participation of everyone is through the socio-economic development systems. This is constituted by the socio-economic developmental processes of innovation and ideas; production or value-addition; logistics/distribution; and consumption. Everyone is a consumer and therefore interested in development or production processes of what is consumed. Functional banking systems is the lubricant that ensures the sustenance of these processes and participation in them. It is by participation or assurance of access to these processes that social justice is achieved. Social justice is the concept that everyone deserves equal economic, political, and social rights and opportunities. In the absence of social justice is disorder, as there is temptation to commit breaches in despair. Social participation through economic opportunities is what guarantees social justice, which is what a functional banking system guarantees.
Economic recovery presupposes being in an undesirable state or condition and imperative of getting out of same. The reality of the Nigerian state is that she is in a state of social disorder. There is pervasive dissatisfaction. While no wage earner in the public service earn enough to meet basic needs of food and shelter, the majority creative and innovative entrepreneurs have no access to financial capital to turn their ideas into consumable products. Meanwhile, even where there are products, access to the market is hindered by poor logistics facilities, which development are hampered by lack of financial capital. Even where the products are available, majority do not have sufficient financial resources to procure them. Thus, is the vicious circle of poverty and discontentment, which breed social disorder with all sorts of vices.
Times were, when the average wage earner earned sufficient wages to meet basic needs. While unemployment was never at zero percent, most workers were in gainful employment. Just as the value of the local currency, our sense of nationalism as well as national global image was impressively high. This was a time when N600 could fetch $1000. The civil service was strong and functional. In those times, Nigeria was a donor-country and choice destination for quality tertiary education. While like in other climes, violent crimes and other acts of criminality have always been there, such acts were not as brazen and vicious as they have become. Never was Nigeria’s territorial integrity so violated, as it has been the trend in recent times. Not even immediately after the end of the Nigerian civil war, all through the General Yakubu Gowon’s era ending in 1975. There were many positives about Nigeria during the leadership of the General under whose leadership the civil war was prosecuted. There were no reprisals after the war. Despite being in arms against the rest of other Nigerian people, those from the erstwhile rebel enclave were fully reintegrated into the Nigerian society within a very short period. It was, really, inconceivable that the nation could easily recover from the many bruises of the war. In the north where many non-indigenes had lost their lives, those who had properties recovered them immediately after the war. There has been a reversal and degeneration of this situation in recent times. Nigeria is currently facing social, economic, political reproaches, both locally and globally.
National economic recovery implies the imperative of getting back to normalcy. A testament to this imperative is the “Economic Recovery and Growth Plan (ERGP)”, which is the major economic initiative of the Buhari-led government. The ERGP was a medium-term all-round development initiative that aims to restore economic growth, invest in Nigerians and build a globally competitive economy. Besides the semantics or nomenclature, the ERGP is the economic paths that both developed and developing economies take. Prior to the ERGP were the National Industrial Revolution Plan (NIRP); Agriculture Development Plan as well as the National Economic Empowerment & Development Strategy (NEEDS)/State Economic Empowerment & Development Strategy (SEEDS). Despite their diverse nomenclatures, the various economic development initiatives had similar or same objectives. As good and laudable as these policy initiatives are, the implementation strategies have been faulty. Each of them is restrained or limited by the following factors.
1. The centrist orientation of the Federal Government inspired the creation of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) office in the presidency, which centralized and controlled the implementation of the NEEDS/SEEDS policy. Regrettably, the implementation was by intervention projects across the country. It became a mere contract-awarding bureaucracy in the presidency.
2. Perhaps due to its low or limited impact of the NEEDS/SEEDS policy, the President Jonathan’s initiated the National Industrial Revolution Plan (NIRP); Agriculture Revolution Program (ARP), which were very comprehensive and conceived as Public Private Partnership (PPP) arrangements.
3. However, the APC- government of Muhammadu Buhari, from 2019 initiated the Economic Recovery and Growth Plan (ERGP), which in all material particulars was similar to Jonathan’s National Industrial Revolution Plan (NIRP) and the Agriculture Revolution Program (ARP). Except Jonathan’s NIRP/ARP, Obasanjo/Yar’adua’s NEEDS/SEEDS and Buhari’s ERGP were implemented by intervention projects through various agencies and institutions of the federal government.
The ERGP, which like the NIRP/ARP of Jonathan’s, is an “all-round developmental initiative” and presupposes an ‘all-inclusive’ development program, is short in some very critical respects. The policy formulators failed to take cognizance of the absence of commercial banking in the system, which is the only avenue for the private sector to access the requisite finance to engage in the economic process. Just like Jonathan’s, President Tinubu’s emergent Economic Advisory Committee, with ‘Bankers’ have failed to reckon with the absence of functional banking system.
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Banking is a part of social science and aspect of finance that ensures the mobilization and protection of financial capital and the provision, management, or circulation of the same for purposes of wealth creation and well-being of individuals and society. Banking, an invention of society, which facilitates the realization of social justice, is a financial system by which money owners lend involuntarily to the society at large. It is a social evolution and testament to human sophistication. Existence of a functional banking system is evidence of good governance and functional politics, whose absence is testament to a dysfunctional socio-economic order, which breeds insecurity and poverty. To avoid this situation, the framers of the Nigerian Constitution made it mandatory that; “the security and welfare of the people shall be the primary purpose of government”. These objectives constitute the articles of faith in developed or developing countries. Banking and financial services are institutionalized for these purposes. The essence of Central Bank as regulatory agency of the state is essentially to ensure the preservation of the banking systems, by ensuring the trust of the money-owners (Depositors) and discipline on the part of money-holders (Bankers). This is why the Central Bank provides mandatory prudential guidelines for banks.
Commercial Banking is eloquent testament to the extent of mutual-human dependency, which is the key to security of state and welfare of the people. Functional financial services system is what guarantees development or productive engagement of the citizenry. Development or productivity is a function of the ability of the people to engage in any one or more of the processes or levels of development or economic activities. These are the processes of ideas, creativity or innovation; production or value-addition; logistics or distribution and consumption. The extent to which these processes go on simultaneously and the people’s engagement in them is what defines or determines economic prosperity. The whole purpose of governance or public administration is to ensure that the people are engaged or capable of engaging in either or several of the said processes and have the capacity to enjoy the benefits therefrom. This is what functional banking systems ensures. It is, indeed, the true and indispensable path to productivity, development, economic recovery and national restoration.
