As the bank relationship manager of two leading agro-based companies in Nigeria, namely: Presco Plc and The Okomu Oil Palm Company Plc, I made several visits to the companies' plantations in Benin, Edo State between 2000 and 2003.

The sight of several thousands of hectares of oil palm plantation was always a beauty to behold. I particularly found the fully automated oil refineries of the two companies awe inspiring. At the end of each visit I came to appreciate the immense potential of the country as an agricultural powerhouse.

During one of my visits, I made an observation that the heartbeat of the companies' huge operations is the nursery. At the nursery, thousands of oil palm seeds are planted and nurtured into quality seedlings for about a year. The nursery serves to protect the seedlings until they can withstand harsh weather conditions. From time to time, oil palm seedlings from the nursery are transplanted to virgin or old plantations that have been cleared of bushes or old oil palm trees. The nursery guarantees the continuity of the business. To this end, the companies make an enormous investment in the maintenance of the nursery.

With the benefit of my plantation visit experience, I always wondered why we pander to the dictates of Bretton Woods Institutions along the line to offer no protection by way of subsidies to our fledging industries and vulnerable citizens but to open our economy to the vagaries of global economic conditions. Bretton Woods Institutions' economic pills fly in the face of the law of nature - the inherent attribute of all classes of animals to nurture and protect their young ones until such a time that they can stand and fend for themselves.

Also, the second-best theory of welfare economics states that if all distortions in the economy cannot be eliminated, you cannot tell whether eliminating or reducing a particular distortion will lead toward or away from equilibrium. Of all the distortionary factors there are, the most pernicious for our economy is corruption. Even in our administration of subsidies - introduction or removal - corruption is embedded. We carry on as if there is a corruption-embodied economic growth model to bequeath to the field of economics. Given our peculiar situation, what we need is help with taming the hydra-headed demon of corruption not the disproportionate preoccupation with subsidies.

The conclusion of the matter is that subsidy is an integral part of life, nobody pays the full cost of living!