I have come again; the economist who insists that the Nigerian GDP must grow at double digits for us to make real progress. Today, I am a tad happy because one of the candidates in Nigeria’s upcoming 22023 presidential elections – Asiwaju Bola Tinubu – has listed as one of his targets, 12% annual GDP...
Indians are not very famous for physical work. My friend Syed, from Kolkata, pokes fun at himself for that. South African comedian throws a good joke about how the British made a huge mistake bringing Indians to the mines of Kwa Zulu Natal to do hard work. The Indians would rather keep the accounts. Russel...
It has become imperative for me to chip in a word on the ongoing Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) strike which has kept many Nigerian youths at home since February 2022. The strike has become intractable and it looks like all bets are off – again. President Buhari has given a few deadlines and...
I was going to really join issues with one of Nigeria’s top economists and member of the president’s economic advisory committee – Mr. Bismarck Rewane. But I will now tone things down a little because he’s been out calling for those who have taken his presentations out of context to correct themselves. But I doubt...
Democracy, which is a charming form of government, full of variety and disorder, and dispensing a sort of equality to equals and unequals alike. Plato Liberty cannot be preserved without a general knowledge among the people, who have a right … and a desire to know – Plato Dictatorship naturally arises out of democracy, and...
The real issues are: LOW ECONOMIC COMPLEXITY Yes indeed, we are not productive and occupy the 4th lowest position on the Economic Complexity Index – meaning that as sophisticated as our tastes are, we also are one of the countries that adds the least value to anything we produce. This means that we are...
Weeks after the All Progressives Congress (APC) won the elections in 2015 and amid all the euphoria of the times, the party organized the first and only economic summit at the Hilton Hotel, Abuja. As a supporter of General Buhari, I attended. I noticed that there were many professors of Nigerian descent invited from abroad....
Party primaries have come and gone, with the famed distribution of dollars to delegates. The PDP primaries were particularly loud in that respect as people were regaled with the dollar war between Messrs Atiku and Wike. Atiku prevailed. Some of the other contestants were said to have also spent within their powers, evoking the imagery...
I was recently graciously invited as one of the panelists at the star-studded maiden edition of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) summit on how to drive the export market in Nigeria for more productivity and sustainability, one of the policy planks under the RT 200 (Race to $200 bn foreign exchange inflow) initiative. Mr...
To make this brief I will be looking at and comparing the economic agenda as advertised, of three top contenders – Bola Ahmed Tinubu of the APC, Atiku Abubakar of the PDP, and Peter Obi of the Labour Party. This are not the only contenders, but the two parties that INEC has been promoting –...
