One of the cardinal objectives of President Bola Tinubu on assuming office last year was to reduce the unemployment rate in the country. It is an objective any responsible leader should have and it is an objective this President has pursued with zeal. His obvious option, though in my view a less preferred one, has been to seek to industrialize the country quickly through foreign investments.
He has, in pursuit of this option, travelled extensively in the past eighteen months - from the Middle East to the Far East, from North America to South America, from North Africa to South Africa, from Western Europe to its Eastern counterpart. Some naysayers see the trips as a jamboree especially since they have been met with varying levels of success. They opine that even the few M.O.U signed have not translated into anything concrete for the country and people. But I am not a naysayer.
I can gauge the efforts and the urgency in the attempts even when deliverables have been slow and scanty. That we are doing business with the Middle East again for example, should not be taken for granted. But a game changer - surprised it has not been heralded as such - is the agreement in Brazil that might transform the livestock business in Nigeria and the livelihood of those involved in it. It could also reduce the farmer/herder clashes across the country and restore a healthier relationship among erstwhile 'enemies'.
The one that has been heralded though, the one that even naysayers have not found easy to disparage, is actually the one I am not very comfortable with. The President went on a State visit to France last month during which he and his wife were treated like royalties. The warmth between the two leaders was palpable. The kind that exudes between friends. President Tinubu loves France. He obviously feels at home there - enough to put his health in the hands of the medical team there.
He has probably spent more time in Paris than Lagos in the past eighteen months or so of his presidency - even his new presidential jet went to France before coming to Abuja. Anybody who has been to Paris before can maybe understand why. Paris is a lovely place; has always been. 'See Paris and die' is an old saying that is not without its reasons. What I am not so sure of though is its people. The warmth of the land; the beauty of the land, has not always been inclusive and colored people have usually been made to feel like outsiders there.
Racism exists in varying colorations in most of the Western countries. France is not different. Exploitation exists between erstwhile colonial masters and their vassal States. France's record in this area is worse than most. The relationship between France and its former colonies was a master/servant relationship for far too long - it speaks to its mindset. The exploitation of the resources of those countries has been so blatant; so in-your-face, that it is a surprise that it lasted this long. The last few years have witnessed a fight back as these countries seek to reclaim their sovereignty, their pride. The result is that France has lost a lot of respect in Africa. It has also, not surprisingly, lost much of its foothold in the continent.
It is with this in mind that one must be wary of its rapprochement with Nigeria. Nigeria remains a major fish in the African pond and winning the heart of Nigeria might gain it some respect and some foothold again in the continent. Has France learnt its lessons or is it merely looking for another willing but sacrificial pun to continue its old chess game? Nigeria needs to industrialize. It needs foreign investments. But it must not be so desperate as to rush headlong into the very place its neighbors are running away from.
Nigeria has much to offer the world in trade and investments. But it must first do some internal soul searching. Why are companies which had made comfortable profits over the years packing up and leaving? For years, we have talked about the ease of doing business but it has been more of lip service. The reality is that it is difficult to do honest business - especially the kind that is both labor and capital intensive - in the country.
That has to change. The tax reform is just a small step in the right direction. But the resistance to it is typical of a people who fear change, any kind of change. Yet, we need to travel farther than tax reforms. Why, for example, are our leaders not investing in Nigeria? Why are they not leading by example? How many of those looking for foreign investors put their own investment money where their mouths are? How many of our leaders are serious employers of labor? How many are industrialists? How many go beyond the acquisition of land and property?
Nigeria ticks many boxes when it comes to being a favourable investment destination. It has huge human and material resources. Labour is cheap, yet relatively educated. But there are too many clogs in the wheel of progress; some are institutional, some are attitudinal. Common to both is corruption which cuts across the strata of the economy. It has contaminated waters making local investments a risky venture. Is it not curious that rich Nigerians will rather take their money to Europe than invest at home?
Sign up for free AllAfrica Newsletters
Get the latest in African news delivered straight to your inbox
Yet, charity, they say, should begin at home. It would be interesting to find how many of the Governors and Senators in the class of '99 have set up industries and made themselves huge employers of labor. Nigerians are rich enough and entrepreneurial enough to industrialize the country if they were willing and the climate conducive. There are also many Nigerians in the diaspora who are willing to invest their money in the country. But we have to chase the elephant called corruption in all its ramifications, from the room. We have to reform our business climate and change our attitude towards entrepreneurs.
Until we love our country enough to make it attractive for us and other serious investors to invest in, we would just be running around only to attract fair weather friends. Fair weather friends exploit rather than plant. And because they have no root, they are the first to be blown away when the going gets tough - Nigerians would not leave their country in bad weather the way foreigners would. France has not proved itself to be anything but a fair weather friend to Africa. But we are prepared to toast to a new France should it desist from its old ways towards Africa.
