Nigeria Now a Fully Capitalist Nation

President Bola Tinubu

In Jamaica, Rastas insist what they practice is not Rastafarianism. It is just Rasta, they say. They say the word “Rastafarianism” is an invention of journalism. They wouldn’t want to be associated with any word with the suffix “ism” since they are often associated exploitation. Examples of such exploitations are capitalism, colonialism, nepotism, etc. 

Today, Nigeria is now a fully a capitalist nation as against the mix economic setting we had and which is right for a nation in our circumstance.

In capitalism every service provided the people is aimed at making profits and one can rise to as high as his talent and hard work can take him. It is considered evil because it creates a situation where a few people have everything, while too many people have nothing, to quote Jimmy Cliff.

On the other side of the coin, you find the more humane Socialism. In Socialism, there is a limit to where investors can venture into. Government in such economic environments feel that certain basic services like water supply, electricity, cooking gas, etc, shouldn’t be left in the hands of people who are all out for profits. This is because a lot of poor people may find it difficult to afford such services, despite the services being fundamental to human existence. It was the reason why Nigeria practiced a mix of the two, allowing people like Aliyu Dan Gote to invest in certain areas of the economy but keeping water supply, electricity, gas, kerosene, diesel and other basic social services to itself.

But right now, Nigeria has withdrawn its intervention in many of these services, and life is now agonizing. Nigeria has not only handover electric power provision to capitalists; it has withdrawn, albeit slowly, the subsidy it was been paying in this area. In the area of water supply, the taps are dry and people have to resort to buying from mai ruwa with the health risk that such poses. Subsidies on all petroleum products have been totally withdrawn, leaving us totally in the hands of capitalists. This is the very decision of the authorities that feels like a red hot knife is drilling into our hearts. It is the aspect of government’s neutrality on social services that has inspired this writing.

Why did the Nigerian Government pull off support to this basic service? It is because it is eating up a huge chunk of the national budget, not just because the refined petroleum products are imported, but because it has provided a fertile ground for dishonesty to bloom in manner that is terrifying.

Nigeria is about the fifth oil-producing nation in the world. Sadly, the refined petroleum products used in Nigeria are imported, since the refineries in Nigeria are grounded and the government has been unable to breathe life into them again. So, the government goes to foreign nations to buy the products at prices ordinary people in those countries buy. There will be charges paid for shipment to Nigeria and more to serve as profits to importers. It is important to note that Nigerians aren’t paid equally as citizens in those nations. So, if a liter of oil in those countries is the equivalent of seven hundred naira, for instance, it will mean nothing to the citizens of those countries, but makes life horrible to us in Nigeria. It explains why Nigerians prefer to go and work abroad.

If Nigerians must be happy, its citizens must have to be paid as high as citizens in the countries from where Nigeria imports the petroleum products. It is either this, or the Nigerian government gets the refineries working optimally, seal the “porous’ borders and then bring back subsidy.

The refineries in Nigeria were the kitchen where the food that we grow is cooked and served to everyone. Since the kitchen doesn’t work anymore, daddy has to go and buy from restaurants. The cost is too high for him to bear, so he decided to let every child feed himself.