By SUNNY IKHIOYA

GLOBALISATION is on the decline, state patriotism, as exemplified by the United States of America, USA, is on the ascendancy. Meaning: every state is tilting towards looking after its own affairs, fully dependent on its resources and that of only friendly and brotherly nations; they call it ‘allyshoring’ or ‘friendshoring’. 

  Where lies Nigeria in all of these? Instead of tackling challenges head on, we have always found excuses for the abysmal conditions that we have found ourselves, using different conspiracy theories, whether tied to Western/developed nations or the local opposition for our predicament. Corruption thrives in every nation of the world.

While others have built strong institutions to enable their countries experience growth, we are still going round in circles, and if we do not take radical steps to redirect our focus, we will end up in deeper waters. Because, as it is with modern world trends, if you cannot offer basic things to your people, you will become subservient to those who will be providing you with these needs and you will always be at their beck and call. 

The recent meeting of world leaders in Davos is still trending and the highlight of the whole event is the emergence of India as the next economic power. According to CNN, the buffer that India has is provided by its large domestic market; it is projected that India will overtake China as the most populous nation in the world this year. Apart from population, what specifically is propelling India in so rapid a manner?

In the January 14 issue of The Economist, under the title ‘Zero Sum Game’, It claims that: “By 2050 India and Indonesia will be the world’s third and fourth largest economies” as projected by Goldman Sachs, a bank. It also projects that “by 2075, Nigeria and Pakistan would have gained economic clout too”.  

Every one is talking about India because all the indices are showing a northward progression in their economy. When you consider Nigeria, which has the same conditions as India, in terms of demographics, human capital and other resources, you will begin to wonder why Nigeria has remained stagnated. The difference between Nigeria and India is basically the will of leadership and the people to take the bull by the horn.

It is either we are afraid to take the necessary risks for fear of repercussions of the actions of superpowers that have fed on our indolence all these years, or that we are basically a frivolous people. According to Natarajan Chamdrasekaran, Chairman of Tata Sons: “The world needs resilience. Resilience must take precedence over efficiency “. That is where India is getting it right and we are going way down the wrong route. 

  The ordinary Nigerian is ready to suffer and endure for a futuristic reward; we have seen it in their religious fervour and in the manner that they have been passive in spite of the excesses of our political leaders; but the resilience that we are manifesting over here is a misdirected one. The resilience of the Indians is grounded in their beliefs, their attitudes, abilities and values of producing and patronising their own home-grown products.

They are ready to suffer shame and embarrassment using their own products, than to covet foreign products that they can produce themselves in India. The love for their home-made products have become a catalyst to dig deep and bring out the creativity of the people.

Today, India can choose the kinds of friends they want to associate with, like they did in the initial period of the Russia-Ukraine war and no one will bat an eyelid. But if a country like Nigeria tries it, we will be in trouble on account of sanctions from hostile countries. Here lies our challenge, with globalisation currently on retreat. 

  Again, the Economist says: “It is not just America that is trying to boost its domestic industry at the expense of foreign rivals. According to the UN, more than 100 countries accounting for over 90% of the world’s GDP have adopted formal industrial strategies”. The strategies being referred to here are not just for politics, they are being implemented by different nations through subsidies and grants to companies and researches, backed by enabling laws that will see these plans come to fruition.

What the United States is bringing to the world is frightening. Still quoting the Economist: “In a speech in September, America’s national security adviser, Jack Sullivan, spelled out the basic tenets of this beggar thy neighbour approach. Merely retaining a technological lead over China and other rivals was no longer enough, he argued. Instead, he said America needed to pursue ‘as large’ of a lead as possible in chip making, quantum computing, artificial intelligence, biotechnology and clean energy.

To that end, America needed to welcome clever people and foster innovation, as well as impede technological advances in countries like China and Russia. Mr Sullivan described two main ways to ensure American supremacy, using subsidies and others forms of industrial policy to shift supply chains away from geo-political rivals, and stricter investment screening and expert controls to keep advanced technology out of unfriendly hands.” 

  That is the position that the US is presently introducing to the world. So, how do we in Nigeria, cope with this new dynamics? A national daily recently reported that: “A senior energy specialist at the World Bank, Mr Arsh Sharma, relying on a report by the bank, had few months ago stated that Nigeria had the largest energy deficit in Africa, noting that over 90 million people were not connected to the national grid.

Also quoting a World Bank report, a professor of electrical engineering, Professor Evbogbai Edekin of Edo State University, noted that Nigeria has the largest energy deficit in the world “. If this is our present situation, how do we begin the difficult climb back to the top and future growth as predicted by world pundits?

Unfortunately the present government do not have time to make enough impact, but it can lay the foundation. We need good subsidies for our local manufacturers; we require heavy funding for our research and development, especially in those critical areas of science, technology, engineering and mathematics. We must be able to harness our raw materials and process them into finished and refined products for both local and international markets. Government must patronise locally produced goods in all the ministries and agencies. In fact, there should be laws backing this up. 

  Our education curricula must be seriously overhauled to reflect present needs, also in line with our history and culture. The people must consciously and deliberately decide on good leadership; a leadership that will have the political will to institute these critical changes, because therein lies the destiny of a prospective giant nation. 

must be put away; our security architecture must be rejigged for maximum productivity and our foreign relationship should strive at strengthening Nigeria first. The climb back to the top is possible, but we must sort out leadership first.

Ikhioya wrote via: www.southsouthecho.com