If Dangote too could cry out…!

When the wind turns to such that it could blow clothes from the hanger in the room, then he must be wary the man still having his shirt on his back. Fuji music mega star, Alhaji Wasiu Ayinde Anifowose (known now as K1 The Ultimate) sang this back in the days when he was still “Igi Jegede”. The Rich Also Cry was a television soap we saw as young, unwary Nigerian children. Although we were not that young, we were unwary because of age, and all our worries belonged to our labouring parents and our unsure, mature seniors. Then, as Samonda children in Ibadan, the statement that “the rich also cry” made no sense other than that it was a regular TV show that had our sisters wanting to know what would happen next. That 1979 Latino telenovela wasn’t our stuff. It wasn’t the action-packed, ‘kickass’ Jean-Claude Van Damme movie or a fight-infested Bruce Lee flick that could get us to sit still and watch. To us, The Rich Also Cry was a meaningless drama of men, women, boys and girls exchanging words, lovey-dovey looks and hot, inexplicable passion about some abstract issues.

However, today, telenovela or not, we have grown to understand that “Los Ricos También Iloran…” Indeed, the rich also cry. Nowadays, the sentence makes complete sense. This is not about the story line of that popular soap opera or what its theme was all about. It is not about the stars therein and their evergreen performances. Its title “The Rich Also Cry” is the takeaway here. In its simplicity, it is a poignant reminder of what Nigeria’s socio-economic degeneration has turned the hopes of millions of Nigerians into. As an individual, I have arrived in an era in which the reality of the times has proven in vivid relief that wealth, success and availability of means do not necessarily amount to contentment or happiness or both. There is always a “but” hemmed into all of those extravagant or frugal frocks, luxurious gowns or heavy cloaks. Each person with their own.

On Wednesday, major Nigerian newspapers reported Africa›s richest man, Alhaji Aliko Dangote, on their front pages. Dangote, the Chairman of Dangote Group made the headlines for what he said which was an obvious lamentation of the sorry and pitiable economic situation in his home country, Nigeria. Aliko Dangote had hitherto been quietly and carefully navigating his massive new refinery through the murky and dangerous waters of the oil business. The Dangote Refinery, his new baby, needs all the tutelage it can get, and snoozing in a deadly business environment like what he said of oil and gas, meant certain doom for the young refinery and all the hope it harbours.

Dangote was deeply engrossed in his refinery-nurture duty but found the time to speak at a summit by the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN), held in Aso Rock Villa, Abuja on Tuesday, 2 July, 2024. His contentions were a direct accusation of those in charge of Nigeria›s monetary life and its general economy. He said Nigeria›s monetary policy rate (MPR), rather than encouraging businesses, is actually killing them. “Right now, at 30 percent, there is no way anybody can create jobs. If the interest rate is 30 percent, there would not be any job creation because we are actually stifling growth.” Does he have the locus standi to say a thing like that? Yes. Does he know what he is saying? Yes. Is he a manufacturer? Yes. Does Dangote know the happenings or the economic policies and monetary moves of some Nigerian peer countries? Yes, he does. Dangote ticks all the boxes. Therefore, he has the bully pulpit. He is an employer of labour, a manufacturer, a business manager and more. He can speak with authority in the Nigerian business circles and beyond.

It›s like when Nigerians heard another billionaire, Tony Elumelu, make X posts in March 2022 that could simply be titled “Lamentations”. Elumelu back then pointed at the inability of the government to control or stop the bleeding in Nigeria›s oil production which cut the nation›s OPEC quota significantly. Elumelu: “When Nigeria should be celebrating the surge in oil prices at $105 per barrel, we are instead faced with the insidious implications of systemic crude oil theft and the resultant inability to meet our OPEC quota. I, once again, call on the Nigerian government to step in and fix this loophole that is draining our nation’s commonwealth.”

Elumelu›s and Dangote’s are the same kind of exasperation. They are directed at the government. They want intentional action to make the country›s economy better. They want the government to remove the cobwebs inhibiting Nigeria›s economic growth so that their economic initiatives could thrive. Elumelu and Dangote are not lamenting a tune-off from their personal financial or economic dials. No. They are noticeably wet enough to last the Nigerian draught. They have, somehow, crossed the bridge before it crumbled. But they are decrying the serious and annoying jamming of the economic frequency of Nigeria as a nation by those who are supposed to fine-tune it.

But are they speaking for Nigerians? Well, it is true that the rain does not discriminate. The Igbo say that “mmiri na-ama ohù na-ama kwa onye pu ya.” The rain falling on the slave is also falling on his owner who has his leash. We may be far from their levels in comfort. We may be way too far at the lower wrung of the economic ladder. They may be very far from the splash of the economic mess we are daily splattered with, but they are still Nigerians. They employ Nigerians and they see the people and hear what they say. They also see citizens of other countries and how Nigerians fare in comparison to them. They also know that this country should not be called – rightly or wrongly – “the poverty capital of the world.”

When Elumelu cried out, Buhari was the president. Buhari handed over to Tinubu about one year after the cry and Nigerians, both high and low, are still crying. The Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN) which hosted Dangote had cried and cried. The association had spoken against the hike in electricity tariff. They had spoken against the floating of the Naira and how the sundry fiscal policies had largely suffocated the Nigerian manufacturing sector. The citizens on the streets will temporarily forget the cholera outbreak and the economic hardship to battle flooding. But they would return to meet the battered economy still being mended by Tinubu as he has constantly promised to do. But the government must reason that if Dangote too could cry out, then the government must look inwards. Dongote’s voice is not supposed to be louder than those millions of other citizens

President Tinubu has given himself the opportunity to do better with the economy. He has said a lot and prepped Nigerians enough and they have begun to think that something different might still happen.

With his Presidential Economic Coordinating Council which includes the same Dangote and Elumelu as members, should Nigerians expect something different? These men were part of similar teams in the past. Would the president listen to them? What are the results of their interventions in the past? Yet, Nigerians are hopeful, clinging to the hope and belief that someday soon, things will change.

Until results begin to germinate, this government has the position of Dangote. Lending rate is killing enterprises. Dangote has spoken. His speech was a lamentation wrapped in pieces of advice.

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