Professor Charles Soludo, former governor of Central Bank of Ni geria (CBN) recently made a wel come intrusion into the nation’s public space with a controversial article entitled “Nigeria, Beyond the 2015 elec tions.”
The main thrust of the article, which was published in some national dailies, was the nation’s economy and how the main contenders in the coming general elections plan to approach it. His offer ing was both stimulating and sobering. It was a hard assessment of where we are as a nation and the difficult times ahead.
Soludo’s article was unsparing of the two leading political parties (Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and All Progressives Congress), and especially of the present government. It is no surprise, therefore, that it has met with prompt rebuttals and sadly, name-calling, in some quarters.
This should not be the case. When privileged and knowledgeable citizens like Soludo criticize government, the re sponse should not be wholesale denials or a witch-hunt. Efforts, rather, should be made to give an intelligent and tem pered response to the issues raised, as one of the parties attempted to do. The habit of always throwing the baby away with the bathwater must stop. Nigeria is our collective enterprise and the sooner we see it as such, the better for all of us.
Soludo provided strong arguments and data to back his points. What was expected of those who felt obliged to reply him was to come up with contrary and incontrovertible evidence to what he provided, and not a disparagement of his person and tenure as CBN governor. The issue here is not an audit of Soludo’s stewardship, but Nigeria’s economy, as we go into the crucial elections.
Although the temptation to read ulte rior motives in Soludo’s intervention, es pecially in a season of elections, is unde niable, this should be resisted. Looking at the entire write-up, it was unsparing of leading contenders in the race, and seems to have derived from a patriotic motive.
Why, indeed, should a country as en dowed as ours continue to suffer the backwardness which has been our lot for so long? This is the question to which urgent answers should be found. And, we thank Soludo for having the courage to advance the debate on this.
We must not forget that before the intractable insurgency in parts of the North-east took the front burner in our public space, elections were almost always about the economy. We should be eager to see the economic blueprints of major contenders for political offices and how the naira and kobo add up. We are worried, therefore, that the major parties appear not to have done suf ficient homework on the economy as Soludo postulated. It is certainly not enough for persons aspiring to political offices to make promises to the electorate, it is very impor tant for them to show the means by which such promises will be fulfilled when they are elected. This will help Nigerians to know, ab-initio, wheth er the policy thrust is indicative of a sound grasp of the magnitude of the problems confronting the coun try and the workability of their proffered solutions. These are the crucial issues, and the major parties appear to have failed in responding appro priately to them.
This is why, instead of dwelling on name-calling and blame-trading, the government and leading contend ers in the coming elections must go back to the drawing board for a quick re-appraisal of the biting is sues and the right strategies to bring about good and lasting results. As Soludo has said, the real job starts after winning elections, but it takes real preparations and guts, backed by a visionary team of dedicated pa triots. Nigerians do not deserve any less, and as our democracy matures, the people should be more assertive in demanding this.
The era of taking the people for a ride is over, and the earlier those who seek public offices wake up to this reality, the better. The country is in the throes of economic hardship with dwindling oil prices, which the economy almost solely depends on.
There is also the free fall of the naira. How is the next government going to meet the demand of diver sifying the economy and addressing the critical unemployment challenge which has risen to unprecedented levels? How is it going to tackle the increasing threat of Boko Haram and the insurgency in the North-east and, indeed, other security threats to the country? How is it going to solve the power and other basic infrastructure challenges?
When we consider all these, we will come to the conclusion that Nigeria has never been this challenged in her over 50 years of independence, and the times ahead will be demand ing, indeed. They call for the best in us, and we must refocus our energies on the things that matter, and not the present shenanigans.
We are optimistic, though, that we can conquer as a people and a na tion, but without the present distrac tions of unprofitable name-calling and desperate politicking.
