“When I was in the private sector, I used to say if only we can get the economy right, everything will be alright; but now with my benefit of working in the public service, I say if we do not get the politics right, nothing will be alright”. – Shamsuddeen Usman.

Dr Usman is a respected Nigerian economist, banker, technocrat and an accomplished public servant. He has played a leading role in every government’s economic crusade since the Babangida era. As the pioneer Director General of the Technical Committee on Privatisation and Commercialisation, now the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE) (1989-1991), he supervised the sale of about 88 public enterprises in slavish obedience to the IMF and the World Bank that claimed such self-destructive act would ‘free government of financial burden of financing public enterprises’.

Usman, the man with the Midas touch was at different times  the chairman of Citibank Nigeria Limited, executive director , United Bank for Africa, Managing Director of NAL Merchant Bank, Deputy Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Finance Minister(2007-2009,)  and Minister of National Planning from (January 2009 to September 2013). He played a critical role in the establishment of the Sovereign Wealth fund. As the alternate chairman of the Nigerian Security Printing and Minting Company Limited (NSPMC), he oversaw the introduction of N500 and N1000 notes. 

Charmed by his allure, like his predecessors, when President Tinubu wanted “consistent attainment of the highest returns possible on all investments made in trust of the Nigerian people”, Usman, who started the sales of public enterprises, became his best choice as chairman of the Board of Directors of the Ministry of Finance Incorporated (MOFI).

Surveying his string of achievements not too long ago, Usman, blowing his own trumpet, declared triumphantly:  “I had taken on so many mafias; I had taken on the customs mafia, I had taken on the tax concession mafia who are draining this country out of its revenues. …I took on the oil importation mafia; I took on the ports system mafia”.

Reminiscing on  his over 30 years of economic wars and periodic pyrrhic recently, Usman  came to the sad conclusion that engaging in economic crusade before addressing our political problem is like putting the cart before the horse. He has, as a committed intellectual therefore decided to share his discovery to the wider audience through the book titled, Public Policy and Agent Interests: Perspectives from the Emerging World, a unique publication on both the impetus for, and impediments to growth and development in emerging economies he co-authored with “carefully selected, technocrats based on their impressive records in the public and private sectors.

The book which is also ‘an account of the interactions between the government, its agencies and the private sector will, according to Sadiq Usman, chairman of the launching committee provide “a fascinating and penetrating insight into the workings of government and the boardroom, in terms of policy formulation and implementation…economic management as well as the overall growth paradigm in the developing world, with Nigeria as a case study”.

It is just as well that it is Usman in whom President Tinubu has so much confidence that is now confirming what many, including Kwame Nkrumah, the late President of Ghana and foremost African nationalist and the author of “Neo-colonialism – The Last Stage of Imperialism had pointed out when he admonished African leaders to first seek the kingdom of politics after which every other thing would follow. Nkrumah was largely ignored.by less endowed African leaders.

Back home, Nigerians opinion leaders as well as leaders of ethnic nationalities have been agitating since the collapse of the first republic for peaceful resolution of the national question. The latest push came from The Patriots, who a few weeks back took the battle to President Tinubu in the presidential villa.

Unfortunately we have passed through this sorry path before. Ibrahim Babangida even after a national debate and consensus, insisted on driving he nation through his structural adjustment disaster and this was not until he had compounded our crisis of nation-building through creation of states and local councils without rhyme, that he in the name of IMF inspired “Structural Adjustment Programme’ sold Nigerian thriving public enterprises to politically exposed individuals that ran them aground.  Obasanjo on his part sold in the name of ill-implemented privatisation programme, Nigeria’s total investment of over $100b for a paltry $1.5b to party stalwarts. And of course eight years of Buhari’s own economic crusade has been described not by a few as a period of economic suicide when the nation was servicing its external and domestic debt by as much as 95% of her earnings.

The first scourge of African leaders and by extension African nations, are the western trained economists who as victims of cultural imperialism, do not believe African nations whose societies’ social system was more organised than those of atomised Europe ruled by bandits who came to carry them as slaves, can become masters of their own fate by rejecting western orthodoxy such as capitalism or their new god, globalisation which defines their society even today as that of masters and serfs.

Yet at the time of first contact with Africans, Yoruba nation, using urbanisation as index of measurement according to PC Lloyd, and Benin, with her walled cities and paved roads adorned with street light were more developed than Europe.

Our recent history has shown that by looking inward, we can become masters of our own fate.  Our golden era of 1954 to 1964 was made possible by the leaders who built their development paradigms around the culture of their people. Awolowo and his group having realised that there were no capitalists in Nigeria as in Europe where bandits raised capitals from slavery and theft of African resources, the state assumed the role of capitalists setting up companies and banks whose profits were then deployed to prosecute free health services, free and compulsory education which then provided a level playing ground for children of the rich and the poor.

 In the east, Dr Nnamdi Azikiwe in line with Igbo culture, encouraged communities to contribute to the education of their youths while Dr Okpara’s pragmatic socialism rather than oppose capitalism reinforced the competitive nature of Igbo society with the Igbo nation becoming the fastest growing economy in the world. Ahmadu Bello exploited the feudal system in the north to build the famous ‘groundnut pyramids’ which provided the funds with which he built the biggest economic conglomerate in Africa south of the Sahara.

We also listed as scourge of our African nations, top bureaucrats who pretended not to understand the policy thrust of the colonial administration whose staff as birds of passage, moved from one Commonwealth country to the other, and were therefore given furnished houses in reservation areas.

Unfortunately, our new inheritors of power see this as status symbol and so they cut themselves off from those they are employed to serve. This explains why not many ministers or lawmakers fully understand what ordinary Nigerians are currently going through. That Usman is today actively involved in providing education and health services to the people of Kano through his foundation is evidence of failure of governments’ 30 years of economic crusade.

The fourth enemies of our people are the lawmakers.  For instance, if there is one state institution whose support President Tinubu needs for successful prosecution of political crusade, it is the National Assembly. Who else can amend the constitution or reverse the aberration where about 60 items in the concurrent list were whimsically transferred to the exclusive list or where a federal constitution has no residual list, but the legislature?

It has been widely acknowledged by stakeholders including the 36 state governors that the answer to cattle rustling, banditry, terrorism and kidnapping for ransom and illegal mining in the rural communities is state/local policing.  One and half years into President Tinubu’s administration, the National Assembly has continued to play the ostrich.

Like most other African nations, we are greatly endowed. Our problem as Usman the celebrated economist with Midas touch want us, including President Tinubu, his principal to know, is politics and not economics.