Economic Objectives (I)

It would contribute much more foreign exchange, larger amounts of raw material for industry, more and better quality food per capita for up to 100 million people, and more income for savings and investment in both the farm and non-farm sectors. From the stand point of social and distributive justice, we see the possibility of substantially improving the lots of millions of small holders and livestock producers to such an extent that the increase in their effective demand for the products of Nigeria’s urban and industrial economy would be a positive driving force for the industrialization of Nigeria.’

 

7. Economic Freedom

At p. 301 of The People’s Republic I define economic freedom as follows:

‘Economic freedom exists when a politically sovereign country, independently of outside control or direction, organizes the exploitation and deployment of its total resources for the benefit of its entire people, under a system in which the forces of supply and demand and of marginal utility are controlled and canalized for the common good.’

In Chapters 12 and 13 of the same book, I have discussed this definition in extenso, and I do not wish here to repeat or add to what I have said. Some comments on the targets for self-sufficiency in consumer nondurables and durables and in capital goods are, however, necessary.

In the first place, I cannot conceive of any non-durable consumer goods, which we need, for which we cannot produce a substitute in this country, within a matter of two years at the longest. In this connection, it is apposite to recall what I have already said in The People’s Republic at pp. 193, 194, and 327 about the regulation of consumption to ensure that, production or utilization of resources is directed towards essential ends.’ For, though our wants are infinite and incapable of regulation, yet our needs for food, clothing, shelter, and knowledge, in such quantity and quality as to guarantee to us the enjoyment of sound health in body and mind and of human dignity, are limited, ascertainable, and amen-able to statutory regulation.

In the second place, there is not a single item of durable consumer goods which we cannot produce in this country within the next five years provided we proceed, forthwith, to the construction of our projected and much-advertized iron and steel complex, the preliminary work on which has been completed for some two years now. Again, as in the case of non-durables, the emphasis should be on our essential needs rather than on our infinite wants which include conveniently dispensable luxuries.

In the third place, I do not have the slightest doubt that, with rigorous detailed, and scientific planning, which is the cornerstone of socialism and of the materialization of all the objectives contained in this book, we can achieve self-reliance in capital goods and in technology, in twenty years’ time. To plan for less than this target is to proclaim our own intellectual and moral ineptitude and bankruptcy, and to sentence our great country to permanent or long-term economic subjugation. We have worthy examples by which our feet can be guided, in the pursuit of this target. Japan and the USSR achieved complete economic freedom and voluntary economic interdependence in all things inside that period. ‘What they achieved, we too can achieve; more so, as we have their experiences to learn from, in order to avoid their mistakes. It is imperative, therefore, that we should have a twenty-year perspective plan, divided into four operative plans of five years each for progressive fulfilment. To this end, we must, in the meantime, see to it that practically all the capital goods and know-how that are imported into the country are paid for by our exports, as already advocated in Chapters 12 and 13 of The People’s Republic, and in the preceding Section.

 

8.-10. Rail, Road, and Water Transport

With an area of 356,669 square miles, Nigeria is the size of France, Belgium, and the United Kingdom put together. But unlike each of these countries, it has in relation to its territorial extent, an extremely short coastline. The distance from Maiduguri to Lagos, which is the nearest port, is 1,103 miles. Nigeria’s ports also serve the Republic of Niger, one of our landlocked neighbours. More than 10,000 square miles of Nigeria’s coastal areas are water-and creek-logged.

We are aware of the evil effects of the lack of an efficient and sufficient transport system in most parts of the country. It compels enormous waste of resources, and puts us in the ridiculous position where we have to import in tinned or preserved forms, products which we produce in abundance locally, and which we could have obtained fresh and much more cheaply. It works hardship, and imposes abject poverty, on primary producers who live far away from the coast, and in the creeks, and who, even when they are not far from the coast, are served very poorly, or not at all, by roads. The need for improving and modernizing the Nigerian transport system, its railways, waterways, and roads, is, therefore, incontestable. Such improvement and modernization will much more efficiently serve our interests and those of the Republic of Niger and even of Chad. The mobility of resources which would result will help to accelerate our economic growth, with consequent phenomenal rise in the standard of living of all of us, especially of those living in the rural, creek, and remote areas.

ALSO READ FROM  NIGERIAN TRIBUNE 

• From World Cup Stage In Qatar, LiveWire Concerts Brings Kizz Daniel To Lagos Since 2019

• Davido, DJ Lambo, Cohbams, Others Emerge Winners At Beatz Awards

• NBS Report Tells Story Of FG’s Failed Investment In Nigerians ― Obi

• Court Restrains FG, Airline Operators From Further Taking Action Over Nigeria Air

• Obasanjo: Tireless General Back In The Trenches

• EDITORIAL: The Burning Of INEC Offices

Two points should be disposed of at this stage. Firstly, it has been said by critics of ‘Thoughts on Nigerian Constitution,’ where the objectives were first enunciated on p. 112, that a target of I mile of road to 2 square miles of territory is too ambitious, and unattainable.

The truth is that in the old Eastern Region, where there are 18,000 miles of road to 29,500 square miles of territory, this target is already more than achieved. And in the old Western and Mid-western Regions, the ratio is already I mile of road to 3 square miles of territory. In the particular case of the Midwestern State, if we took out the riverine areas, the ratio is increased to about I to 2. On the other hand, the ratio in the old Northern Region is 1 to 13. Here then is the rub. But the reasons for this low ratio are sparseness of population, and comparative deficiency in economic activities.

CONTINUES NEXT WEEK