Sale of assets: Stranger than fiction

The raging controversy on the sale of assets is now in the domain of the public. How far so far, to sell or not to sell these assets? It would appear to me advancing recession as a basis for such calls as stranger than fiction propositions. But before we go into it let us understand […]

The raging controversy on the sale of assets is now in the domain of the public. How far so far, to sell or not to sell these assets? It would appear to me advancing recession as a basis for such calls as stranger than fiction propositions. But before we go into it let us understand the various scenarios. The challenge is to either sell or not to sell these huge investments. Either scenario has advantages and disadvantages. It has its desirable and undesirable consequences.  On the one hand, leave it in the hand of Nigerian workers as the NLC would wish would appear as a hard sell.  After all what do these refineries and petro-chemicals, the steel projects, Nigerian Airways and Railways tell in terms of performance?
What value have these companies added under the NLC and Nigerian public servants?  Invariably, they were conduit pipes to siphon public wealth. That explains the major reason for the collapse of these public enterprises. Indeed, where and if they operate, the cost of production never competitive. Poor products quality, inefficiency and supply gap problems. The worst is lack of morale and motivation. Tribal and religious sentiments contaminate the work environments.
On the other hand, selling it to old grandees, with questionable credentials, with no history of business as stand alone is not the way out. After all they were products if not the cause of the comatose that they pretend to ignore. Just because one was a former technocrat in the civil service rising to a Permanent Secretary or its equivalent and directors with high profiles, are no more than fat cats reaping were they did not sown. The worst are the preponderances of this so-called ruling class in government houses and attending Federal Executive Council meetings that we see but cannot touch and that have accumulated assets crookedly. Then use these proceeds to swallow the juicy assets and leave out the dead ones like Ajaokuta.
The return on investment for political office in Nigeria is top most in dividends payout. Former President of US Harry Truman was quoted as saying “You can’t get rich in politics unless you are a crook”. How then these politicians and public office holders got rich to have the financial power to acquire huge investments like refineries and NLNG. Why sell NLNG that is a cash cow for government to any Nigerian. Such non-starters could not be enterprise managers.
It is dishonest to orchestrate stranger than fiction pictures about the current “recession” as if there was no cause. Let us not forget the 1986 Structural Adjustment Programme (SAP) gimmicks. Nigerians out of mischief or cluelessness forget so easily. The Naira that was at par with the Dollar was adjusted to 1.0 US Dollar to “only” N4.0. The fairy tales were that employment would increase. Inflation would nose dive. Production would get boost beyond imagination. Exports to earn FX were to quadruple. Investors would flood Nigeria with “foreign capital”. In short the economy would bubble and bubble as to make Nigeria a show case for Africa! Today, the US Dollar is purchasing Naira at 450 and is not an issue! All factories are closed. Food is imported and terrorism, criminality and hopelessness trail the country.
Consistent with this view, the Nation’s edition of Thursday September 22, 2016 had an interesting piece. Look at the Editor’s Mail Bag in page 16 captioned “Buhari is not a Magician”.  Deji Fasuan MON JPI raises pertinent issues and he says “Ours is a nation where issues, even few month back are easily forgotten or ignored. We concentrate on present problems leaving out historical antecedents.” He went down the memory lane with a catalogue of events that pointed to the evils of the previous regimes in particular the wasted opportunities to make Nigerians get out of distress. He concluded that only a magician will change the current state overnight. It is only natural disasters like flood or earthquakes that change situations overnight. There is no way manna will fall from heavens for Nigerians to eat with no efforts and time in between.
If a stranger than fiction situation allows a wife of the President to set aside 12 million US Dollars just for medical bills, why cannot there be recession. If we take an aggregate of 200 similar cases in one fiscal year and multiply over 16 years that explains the so-called recession. Since some cabals with vested interests in the downstream sector succeeded in convincing Buhari to review upwards petrol pump price to N145, they will not relent. Where do they want to take Nigerians with unending price of petroleum? It would seem some cabals are really interested in only working for US-Zionists to see that Nigeria breaks with the inelastic changes in the rise of US Dollars against the Naira. They would like to see people fighting with pigs and other animals scavenging for food in the dust bins and refuse dumps.  
The sale of assets to satisfy the rapacious greed of pseudo-capitalists at the expense of poor Nigerians despite the corruption in the system is not the panacea for solving the recession that was designed to happen by those who closed their eyes to divert the commonwealth of Nigerians to their banks.
When we see a recession on the basis of macro externalities or otherwise we can understand. Clear cases of corruption, influence peddling, abuse of office, ill-gotten wealth that they have accumulated are manifest. Add the confusion to the extravaganza and the disrespect for law and order, abuse of court processes what do you expect? These are micro-economic problems that any so-called financial and economic analyst or expert should know. These are the issues to attack frontally by any leadership, Buhari or any person in charge. The moment an enabling environment is created, the economy will pick up and the centre will hold.  
Engr. Fari wrote this piece from Kaduna