The Sovereign Wealth Fund Institute (SWFI) records that Norway has the biggest sovereign wealth fund in the world standing at close to $900 billion. This investment is essentially funded from Norway’s oil sales surplus. Norway has created this enviable wealth by practising the timeless wisdom of saving for the rainy day. But the situation is not the same with our dear country, Nigeria. As a high ranking oil exporter, we cannot boast of such level of wealth and the current crippling of the economy due to drastic reduction in crude oil prices is evidence of our lack of foresight and a poor saving culture.

Surely, the current situation is partly a self-inflicted pain as it could have been avoided with a more prudent management of the nation’s resources. Our current situation has been signposted by inability of many state governments to meet salary obligations, with its attendant toll on the welfare of public service workers. Gratefully, however, the Federal Government has responded with what has been described as a ‘bailout’ to ameliorate the problem and help the affected states meet their salary obligations.

We have previously faced the challenge of boom to burst in the oil sector, which produces majority of our nation’s income. In the 1970s, we witnessed an oil boom period when, appreciably, we invested in massive infrastructure development but we failed to save for the rainy day. Those boom years were quickly replaced by the borrowing years of the 1980s. Another regime of high crude oil prices unexpectedly came upon us between 2011 and 2014, but this time, we only went on a spending spree without commensurate investment in infrastructure development. We also did not save for the future because we did not learn from our history. Alas, in late 2014, market forces swung into action and prices went on a downward spiral. Since then, we have been bearing the brunt of below-budget-benchmark crude oil prices without savings to rely on and the economy seriously impugned.

The compelling lessons of history become important here. Maya Angelou, the late American poet, once said, “history, despite its wrenching pain, cannot be unlived, but if faced with courage, need not be lived again.” Instructively, the most important lesson from this predicament is that we cannot afford to go back to the old ways just because the Federal Government has provided an immediate respite. We must come together as a people to conscientiously deliberate on the most effective and prudent way of managing the commonwealth in order to improve our living conditions and bequeath worthy legacies to future generations. And such a discussion can only start by asking ourselves: how did we get here? Luckily, the answer to that is not hard to decipher. We have acquired an infamous reputation as a high consuming nation with embarrassingly low productivity. Little wonder we ran into troubled waters.

Temporary ‘bailout’ measures are only for the short term, they do not address the fundamental problems. A permanent panacea is required beyond palliatives. We must take that collective decision to redress our consumption-production imbalance in favour of production, because excess consumption beyond income stifles growth and savings. Thankfully, the present administration has conveyed its decision to pursue new economic frontiers other than crude oil; especially agriculture, solid minerals and mining. This is a welcome development that all patriotic Nigerians must embrace. We need to focus on economic sectors that can expand our productive capabilities and also engage the mass of our people. We must borrow a leaf from the book of William E. Simon, who said: “productivity and the growth of productivity must be the first economic consideration at all times….”

As we commemorate the 55th Independence Anniversary of our great country, we must commit to shedding the toga of a high consuming, mono product income nation. Gladly, Nigerians are ever ready to deploy their God-given energy and talents to productive ventures once provided with the ample opportunity to do so. It is only now imperative for Government to hurriedly articulate lucid economic policies (fiscal and monetary), enact enabling laws and create the right environment to jump-start the economy through productive activities in new and existing sectors.

Without increasing our productive capacities and capabilities we cannot overcome yesterday’s problems or secure a prosperous future. We need a significant paradigm shift with strong commitment to backward integration and diversification of sources of income. This can be achieved by expanding processing capacity for our abundant natural resources so we can produce more value-added finished goods for local consumption and exports. Doing this will indeed enable us to make the move from a nation of potential to that of capacity, capability and competence in the management of our resources.

But this task does not belong to the Federal Government alone. At the state level, our governors must be ready to lead the economic renaissance of their states. States need to be more creative to expand their internally generated revenues outside of the monthly federal bounties without creating undue hardship for their citizens. Our governors must look within to identify critical resources (human, natural, economic and capital) through which they can develop a series of productive activities, engender competitive advantage and create value to generate wealth.

The successful completion of the recently-concluded transition process has inspired renewed hope and created a stable socio-political atmosphere as sine qua non for development. What is required now is for the Federal Government and State Governments to partner with the organised private sector to draw on new ideas to develop the tremendous resources where nature, in its benevolence, has favoured us with uncommon competitive advantage. We also need to save for the rainy days, consciously investing capital into enduring infrastructure that would elevate the living standard of our peoples.

We at Honeywell Group wish all Nigerians Happy 55th Independence Anniversary.

LET US PRAY

Dear God, we thank You for yet another opportunity to commemorate our independence as a free nation. We equally thank You for Your enduring grace upon our nation. On this important occasion, we seek Your wisdom, guidance and empowerment; that we may be able to create the best out of the wonderful resources You have blessed us with.