YOUR Excellency, any patriotic Nigerian who is literate should know that this is not the best of times for our nation’s economy.
For reasons that are collateral in nature, we now find ourselves in a near state of economic depression which, if not quickly addressed, may lead to crises in other sectors. The situation is so dire that those who were comfortable financially in the recent past are now struggling to survive, while those who were poor in the past have slided deeper into poverty.
However, it is needless to say that the army of the very poor has expanded exponentially. Yet,in the midst of the aforementioned precarious situation, we still find some people having more than enough to keep their lives going and their social ego bogusly massaged.
With such people, one wonders what they stand to gain by hoarding what they have in excess, regardless of how they acquired it.
Your Excellency, I have the following suggestions which, if faithfully implemented, will make everyone rejoice in the end. I must, however, note that as plausible as this model may seem, it will have strong opposition from the high and the mighty in the society, but with strong political will to implement the model, our society will be the better for it.
The first thing is that all Nigerians should sacrificially submit themselves to Personal Single Account (PSA) policy. By this, the duplicity of bank accounts will no longer be allowed. The BVN can be used to track full compliance with this policy.
Also, corporate entities should submit themselves to the Company Single Account (CSA) policy. The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) should come up with the modalities for faithful compliance.
Now, government should determine a reasonable amount an individual can hold in his bank account at a given point in time. The amount should be reasonable enough not to discourage hardwork and savings against the rainy days. Any excess in the account should be invested by the owner in any legitimate productive venture of his/her interest.
Also, government should determine a reasonable amount a company can keep floating in its bank account at any period in time. The excess should also be re-invested for expansion or invested for diversification.
If these policies are faithfully implemented, we shall have the combined effects of creating jobs for the unemployed, fair redistribution of resources/wealth and common happiness.
However, saboteurs of these policies should be liable to reasonable sanctions. This economic model is not iron-cast but open to criticisms and adjustments till the desired objectives are achieved.
Some economists may choose to call this a neo-communist model, while coming up with strong arguments against it. I, however, choose to call it a Peculiar Nigerian Economy Revamp Model, knowing that every nation has its peculiarities and they should be administered as such. No doubt, this model will take some efforts to fine-tune, a strong political will to implement and an uncommon sacrificial commitment of the citizenry to submit to temporary hardship, but the end will surely justify the means.
- Segun Olawore,
segunlawoore@yahoo.com
and then