Dear Nigeria,
- If you construct high-quality (pot-hole free) and long-lasting roads, the vehicles plying the roads will last longer on the roads than they would otherwise. Consequently, this will crimp the demand for spares parts to fix the faulty vehicles. Since the spare parts are foreign, your balance of payment will begin improving and your currency, the naira may start getting stronger. If you succeed in achieving this, you would have contained the import-driven inflation resulting from the depreciation of the naira.
- I think more than 70 percent of your domestic gasoline demand is for transportation and power generation. If the power supply problem is addressed, the use of household and factory generators for powering homes and industries will begin to shrink as these normally rip holes in your external reserves. This will result in the following potential ripple effects: importation of generators and petrol will begin to decline so that more forex is saved and at the same time, these will ease the pressure on the existing refineries to meet the rising demand for petrol in the country. Eventually, this will grow your external reserves and thereby making an available foreign exchange for financing infrastructure and the importation of capital goods for your manufacturing sector.
Note: A developing economy like yours is in desperate need of the physical capital in order to raise labour productivity and lower the average cost of production.
- If your rail system is fully built and efficiently functional, the development will scrunch the market for use of private and commercial vehicles. As a result, the number of road crashes will be minimised as many travellers will switch to the use of the trains. And if there are fewer accidents, there will undoubtedly be a fewer number of cars needing replacement of parts following the crashes. You can now see the additional benefits on your balance of payment.
- The above three things will gulp a lot of money if you must achieve them. Please do not pretend to have the technology to deliver on these. Other nations do. You can buy the technology from these nations using the proceeds from the crude oil that God has blessed you with. You already have the money. Please send it, that thy people, yes, thy sons and daughters, may break free from the past: from persistent misery as you unleash their potentials.
ZUHUMNAN DAPEL
