The author, the 1999 winner of the Transparent Patriotism Merit Award of the Leadership Trust Foundation, in Project Research & Entrepreneurship, is calling on political leaders and all stakeholders to urgently address the issue of deteriorating business enabling environment in our dear country Nigeria.
For the past three years, I have been closely monitoring profitability trends among micro small and medium enterprises in Nigeria. Without equivocation, I have come to a strong conclusion that only a tiny proportion of the existing micro small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) in Nigeria today are viable
The cause of the unviable conditions of MSMEs in Nigeria is primarily the harsh enabling environment. For larger enterprises, the business operating environment is ostensibly harsher. For instance, If you are operating big, you will be compelled to initiate what is called ‘BYOI’, mnemonic for: ‘Bring Your Own Infrastructures’, which encompasses an endless list of choking brings: bring your own borehole, bring your own electricity/ giant generator, bring your own security/ hire your own thugs, build your own business premises/ pay huge rentals for office and store spaces including endless list of service fees, construct your own feeder roads leading to and from your factory premises; pay multiple taxes including illegitimate levies and extortions, and file your annual returns with incidental expenses. Those business owners that couldn’t face the tough battle in Nigeria had long relocated to Ghana, Benin Republic and other neighbouring countries where the investment climate is considered relatively friendlier.
For similar reasons, our Doctors, especially those in private practice, are once again leaving our shores to other countries. Most pitiably, our youth are fleeing back to Europe and America through the same dreadful Libyan route that they had passed before, not minding the excruciating and regrettable torments that they or their counterparts had faced in that inglorious past. You may call it illegal emigration but to these youths, it’s all about the struggle for survival. Paradoxically, even those who have good jobs within the country don’t feel safe to move around. Similarly, those who have farm lands to earn a living from are afraid of stepping out to their farms because they may be kidnapped in the remote farm locations. Worst of all, certain parts of the country are besieged by armed insurgents, a situation that has rendered the indigenes homeless, and the affected areas intractable. The increasing wave of kidnapping, insurgency and farmer/ herder conflicts and killings has worsened the ease of doing business more than ever before.
Those in the business of book-writing or music production have had their original works pirated and sold for peanuts by crooks, to the extent that their original products are pushed out of the market for the reason that they’re overpriced. The creative, flourishing film industry (Nollywood) is endangered by tenacious piracy and inadequate enforcement of copyright laws. In advanced countries, the innovator usually safeguards his/ her patents from piracy or plagiarism, deriving authority from the copyright laws that efficiently work. Unfortunately in Nigeria, it is difficult to protect intellectual property; it is difficult for instance, to catch those pirating the book or music or film that an innovator has created with his brain and brawn. Even if you catch anyone, s/he will tell you that he bought the book or album from someone else, who bought it from the neighbouring market, who bought it from a distant market, and the vicious cycle of the search for the real culprit goes on unending. The copyright Act is one out of the numerous enabling environment laws that are practically not working in Nigeria, which government must strive to enforce.
Governments at all levels are usually there for the people; hence, they have the moral obligation to improve the business enabling environment and living conditions. If they don’t, history will catch up with them as it did in Russia (1917), China (1949), Ghana (1979), South Africa (1992) and Sudan (2005). It is the responsibility of the government to provide efficient electricity, durable feeder roads, portable water, affordable public schools, inexpensive primary health-care, markets and business incubators for start-ups; as well as adequate security and justice for all including credible system of punishment and reward. It is their overriding duty to enforce the laws. The land use Act equally places a huge burden on the government to increase land-use for farmers towards reducing hunger and malnutrition. The need to make our export produce competitive and acceptable once again in foreign markets at the same time necessitates the government to overhaul the agencies that superintend international quality standards.
Making politics less attractive and reducing the cost of governance is a twin-issue that is worth-addressing. They say we have no money but they make the cost of governance too lavish, in a country where majority of the population is living below poverty line. On the part of the governed, the right response is not to remain docile but to engage the government on the need to quickly restructure the expensive political system. It’s exigent that we trim down the spurious bicameral federal legislative structure (expensive Senate and House of Reps at same time), and do away with such funny allowances as the ‘welcome package’ for incoming National Assembly members. It’s also crucial to slash the security votes of governors and resist moves by the political leaders to grant themselves life pensions after their short national service. Labour leaders should not stop at the struggle for minimum wage; they should at the same time be talking about the need to bring the maximum wages down.
Now we have a theory! When our illogical political lifestyles are curtailed, politics will no longer be a do-or-die affair and leaders will no longer need bullet-proof cars or violent thugs to protect them. More money will be freed to diametrically improve the business enabling environment, which will on the other hand attract well-ordered investment transactions flow. Businesses will become increasingly more viable. Our economy will once again boom and more people will gain employment. Hunger and malnutrition in the land would be reduced to minimal proportions and our youth would not for any reason take to the deadly risk of crossing the Sahara Desert and Mediterranean Sea in search of greener pastures abroad. Before you know it, such contemporary crimes as kidnapping, occultism, even insurgency will systematically begin to take quick flight back to their devilish kingdoms of origin. There will be relative peace and our society will fare better again!
The author can be reached for feedback via his email address: chukwudiodili902@yahoo.com
