allAfrica.com: Nigeria: Wealth in the North (Sorry), Country (Page 1 of 1)

The Conference of Northern States Chambers of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture (CONSCCIMA) commences its Northern Nigeria Economic and Investment Summit (NEIS 2008) in Abuja today. This conference assumes a special significance.

For one in recent times, it represents a paradigm shift from the poverty/corruption discourse that has characterized the development discourse in the region and indeed the country as a whole. Regionalization of discourse in the country is proving an entrenched habit rather than a passing fad. This is bad enough! But to diminish such discourse to poverty and some poverty alleviation or something related like corruption and anti-corruption as distinct from the much needed wealth generation and wealth distribution is an unworthy turn for the worse.

Paradoxically, those paid to promote development, development and development (in that order of priority) are the most visible salesmen of poverty alleviation measures which in turn deepen poverty and legitimises poverty discourse. Since the controversial thesis of the CBN Governor, Professor Soludo according to which Poverty is a Northerner, (or something that sounds like that!) volumes of commentaries of printed words have added to the misrepresentation, distortion and the diversion. This is not saying that poverty and acute deprivations are not widespread in the North perhaps more than the other regions (where poverty exists nonetheless).

On the contrary, the issue is that any differentiation of poverty in scale and context is unhelpful in a country that is holistically begging for development and prosperity. The point cannot be overstated. Poverty in whatever dimension and in whatever region or state is a threat to prosperity anywhere. The truth is that the poverty of the North is no less worrisome than the notorious poverty in Niger Delta. In fact if we look everywhere there is plausible Niger-Deltanization of every where defined here as neglect amidst plenty, decay and idle capacity even when there is so much to be done, Okada-riding amidst petro-dollars. The Sultan of Sokoto, His Eminence, Alhaji Muhammadu Saa'd Abubakar, Mni said as much recently when he rightly observed widespread poverty in the country and demanded for good governance.

The truth is that poverty might be more pronounced in some areas but sustainable prosperity as we know it in other parts of the world is lacking in any part of the country. It is therefore important that NEIS 2008 is set to move from poverty paradigm to wealth generation discourse. You cannot get out of poverty by lamenting and unconsciously legitimising the very scourge. As an activist of the poor, I bear witness that the poor do not relish in differentiating the scale of their misery but want to jump out of poverty box.

The motto of Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) reads: Labour Creates Wealth not Labour Laments Poverty in the knowledge of the labour movement that it is only by creating wealth that we get rid of poverty anyway. Labour's view also tallies with global perspective about development. Adams Smith wrote about Wealth of Nations not Poverty Differentiation of Nations. Even Karl Marx who provided Communist Manifesto for transformation wrote about Capital and process of capital formation not about Lamentations of the Poor. It is therefore refreshing that in the next three days policy ideas would be generated to reinvent the region and indeed Nigeria back to the process of development.

I share the perspective of Mallam Mohammed Haruna (1st of October) in his article entitled "Time For More Actions...." that we must replace talk-shops with real workshops in meaning and content. All we need to do is to return to history as Mallam Muhammed demonstrated with the history of the NNDC which once built prosperity in the region. Let's urgently recapitalize the agency and demand for accountability. Interestingly the late Premier did not sit by and listen to empty sermons about poverty in the region before he moved into actions of historic significance to insist that the North must catch up in words and actions.

The strength of the late Sardauna lies in the fact that he operated outside poverty box and mainstreamed prosperity awareness at a time it was a luxury to do so. Sardauna's vision for Kano for instance was to make the city Manchester of Nigeria (euphemism for industrial revolution) not Okada riding (or is it poverty alleviating?) city which we now shamelessly made the city. And the late Premier realised his vision given that Kano became a continental industrial power house followed by Kaduna. The question today is: if the old region with its less endowment compared to now, could engage in value addition and mass industrialization how can 2008 North presides over industrial obituaries with factory closures, mass unemployment and poverty and additional insult of being talked at? Happily the North does not have to look for "foreign" investors when all it needs is to revive the existing initial plants and assets being wasted.

If Sardauna in the 50s could engage the British to build KTL in partnership and ensure the Chinese relocate to build UNTL the largest textile mill in the continent, the 19 governorrs have no excuse to preside over the collapse of this massive investment if they cannot add to it. We need a programmatic mix of public and private sector policies to reposition the region and indeed the country. If the most "private sector driven" economy in the world, USA could mobilize $700 billion to rescue the financial market, because of just one singular financial shock, then Nigerian government must return to duty of good governance given the abysmal level of current depression and lack of wealth generation.

I recommend UNIDO report of 2003 on revival of the textile industry for NEIS 2008. If the North can implement its side of this all inclusive report on reindustrialization of the country, then the next three days would show that we have moved from poverty paradigm to prosperity action. What is good for the North is probably better for Nigeria and indeed Africa! Prosperity not poverty should be a Northerner and indeed an African.

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