Someone has rightly said that there can never be success without suffering. If you are enjoying it, just know that someone has suffered for you, and if you are suffering, then someone will enjoy the fruits of your labour. July 4 is a holiday in the USA to commemorate the day of freedom and liberty for Americans. Retired Judge Darrell White describes, “In a nutshell, our founders sacrificed their prosperity for their posterity, us. They pledged their lives, their fortune, and their sacred honour to secure our blessings of liberty.” As Dr. Jerry Newcombe, Executive Director of Providence Forum, explains, “We are free in large part because others sacrificed on our behalf that we might be free.” It’s only Gen-Z—the generation of those born between 1997 and 2001—that will not understand the trouble with Nigeria. It doesn’t just end with loans and borrowings. It’s not just a big problem, but a persistent challenge. The country and her leadership have never made any effort to extricate themselves from the trouble because whoever comes to power is a perfect reflection of the general population of citizens.
The last major debt crisis struck in the 1980s. The World Bank advised Nigeria to liberalise their economies and close up social programmes. By the early 2000s, developing countries were benefiting from debt relief and a renewed effort to fight poverty. They were encouraged to produce crops for export, but underneath, the food systems were exposed to volatile global markets and climate shocks. Since 2020, a global food crisis with the invasion of Ukraine has drawn us back to the 1980s in a worsened condition. Following a global financial crisis and prolonged recession, hunger and debt levels began to rise again. Poor countries, including Nigeria, were hit with spiralling debt servicing costs. The poorest countries are the worst hit, as rich countries have put up interest rates again, leading to difficult loan repayment.
Borrowings are preferable in a low-interest environment when the government aims to carry out projects. Borrowings are beneficial when they are used to finance government spending on infrastructure, education, and healthcare, leading to job creation and economic growth. The Nigerian government tends to raise revenue from taxes just to service debts. We’re not raising concerns about the ability of Nigeria to repay her loans but about a high debt-to-GDP ratio, future taxes, and expenditures. The high inflation in Nigeria was certainly induced by federal government borrowings and monetary policy. The dependence on the Brentwood institutions—the World Bank and IMF—adversely affected the exchange rates, influencing export and import dynamics.
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One wonders how we talk about palliatives, grants, and subventions when critical fiscal policy is tied up in servicing debts. Core values and national values are completely obsolete and eroded: education is monetized, healthcare is monetized, justice is monetized, respect is monetized, the presidency is monetized, and governance is monetized. Nigerians do not stand equal before the court of law, and few judges could be fair. They do not have equal opportunities. The highest law of the land, the Constitution, is not implemented by her leaders. In the late 1980s and early 1990s, the evil genius took a loan that sank Nigeria beyond economic recovery. Then, we realised that the Brentwood institutions were actually founded to liquidate the economies of developing countries with hopeless, greedy leaders.
Muhammad Buhari sold out the country to China, Germany, and the West and relocated to London. From the DMO, the debt profile is close to N100 trillion, and we spend roughly N2.4 trillion on service debts. Everyone talks about the salary and allowance for the elected legislatures of the 10th Senate, but what has lawmaking to do with constituency projects? In a perfect world, the government can pay all the bills using taxes and investments. In 2001, Argentina defaulted, and North Korea took a loan in 1976. Russia defaulted in 1998 on Treasury bonds. The Eurozone economic crisis caught up with Ireland, Portugal, and Spain, who got bailouts and were revived except for Greece. Particularly, Nigeria is supposed to be spending more on the poor than the working class; rather, the reverse is the case, having all been enmeshed in a cesspool of bribery and corruption.
The majority of Nigerians are like dogs, slinking and growling around, not looking for gold or diamonds but for food. Many adults beam with a beatific smile as soon as you hand them one or two notes of N1000 which will hardly feed one for a day. The morning bird sounds send shivers down the spines of the masses due to their continuous fruitless struggles. Life is not normal, and the most fundamental question every Nigerian is asking in a thousand different ways is, “Is there hope?” Millions of optimistic Nigerians move about with false hope, which has repeatedly disappointed them. Let’s approach our problems, our work, and even our differences in the spirit of true humility, compassion, consideration, and unselfishness.
Obiotika Wilfred Toochukwu; St. Patrick’s Catholic Church, Awgbu.
