Eating with the eleventh finger

A Yoruba adage says ‘you cannot eat with all ten fingers’. In reality, you can eat with all ten fingers, but in order to instil a very useful life lesson and some wisdom, this adage refers to the inordinate consumption of resources, in this case food, and in the case of Nigeria money. In fact, it is reasonable to say that all levels of government in Nigeria have been eating with an eleventh finger. This congenital physical anomaly is one championed by greed and an over-excessive culture. The current economic condition of the country attests to the fact that public officials charged with the civic duty of managing the country’s finances have turned around to mismanage them. Basically, a federal deficit of approximately N7 trillion is absolutely unacceptable.

In order to move forward from this economic slumber, the Nigerian government must begin to map out economic policies and procedures that are completely opposite to previous strategies. Only completely dependent toddlers who cannot legally fend for themselves have every right to cry foul when their guardians fail to provide for them. When a handful of state governments fail to fulfil their primal responsibilities because the federal government is bankrupt, we must begin to self-analyze our financial principles. Not only do state governments have to become more frugal and less spendthrift, they have to be given complete economic freedom to generate income for themselves. It might sound counter-intuitive to give state governments such financial freedom, but in essence, it is actually the most profitable solution to this issue.

States should be given the latitude and support to become economic entities capable of producing and generating wealth. The profits amassed from the sale of the country’s natural endowments should still be used as a pool accessible by the states to implement capital- intensive projects that the states cannot individually afford. This repressive habit of constantly sharing money cannot lead to economic growth in this writer’s opinion. “Why manufacture any good when we just have to wait to receive our share of the national cake?” state public officials might think. This mentality has to be corrected. To become productive, we need to carry on the breastplate of technological innovation and gird ourselves with an undying passion to become a great nation, like we once were.

Some might argue by asking, “What happens to states that have natural resources? Do they get to keep the spoil to themselves?” The simple answer is No. Instead of giving a piece to everyone, this hypothetical national cake should be shared with the goal of assisting states that require tremendous capital for projects they cannot singularly afford. And as for states without natural resources, they need economic policies that will attract a steady stream of capital into their economy, and they can be assisted within reason by the federal government. The challenge of inhibiting corruption will also be assisted by the realization that income collectively generated by the people in taxes or other means cannot be squandered like income accrued from the sale of crude oil. State governments will lean towards an honest mindset because there is incentive to stay competitive and transparent, unless people will move to other states with better transparency and economic policies. It is that simple. This scenario leaves the federal government with enough resources to focus on global issues such as national security and protecting property and individual rights of every citizen. Local issues which mostly affect people on a comparatively smaller scale will be taken care by state governments.

The ultimate goal is to create proper incentives for state governments to become more efficient and responsible for their success. The psychology behind receiving capital required to pay state government employees from the federal government is faulty and leaves most states handicapped and devoid of sound economic policies to catapult the citizenry from poverty to wealth. In essence, they need to stop eating with all eleven fingers and start investing their minds, brains and beings towards the collective success of Nigeria.

Gabriel Johnson