Leadership (Abuja)
20 October 2008
editorial
The federal authorities have been assuring Nigerians that their country is insulated from the economic crisis currently sweeping across the world. "Our economy is strong and resilient. Also, our private sector is capable," said Information Minister John Odey after the Federal Executive Council meeting last week.
Experience, however, has taught wise people to believe the opposite of whatever government denies. Even in the early 1980s, the Federal Government continued to live in denial until it introduced "austerity measures". Obafemi Awolowo who warned of the impending crisis was called a prophet of doom.
The reality is that Nigeria cannot withstand any further attack from the global meltdown. The problems in the banking sector, in the stock market, in the nation's infrastructure, in the manufacturing industry and in the job market tell a story different from what we hear from our leaders. They would be right only in an ironic sense: Since Nigeria has been struggling with an economic crisis for the past 26 years, it should not feel threatened by the global one. He that is already down need fear no fall.
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