Business in Nigeria is an extremely challenging endeavor. Government agencies, people and other sundry issues you have to engage are hydra-headed. As one issue is being resolved, five more pop up. And their hue could sometimes be hilarious, like a woli insisting on directly delivering a celestial message to the CEO!
Anytime I meet entrepreneurs who have done business in Nigeria for as long as 10 years, I always encourage them to write an autobiography. Challenges the Nigerian entrepreneur manages will make better reading than many of the motivational books written by people who have never managed even a small corner shop.
Who could ever imagine an Aliko Dangote’s operation will be shut down by Kogi State. Aliko, fa! Just like that, the Obajana Cement Factory, owned by Dangote, perhaps the biggest employer of labour in the state’s private sector and biggest contributor of PAYE tax, was shut down by agents of the state. The action was not on the strength of a court order but mere pronouncement on ownership. This action is wrong on many fronts and the optics worse. While the government at the Centre is trumpeting its achievements on ease of doing business, a sub-national government is doing all it can to make the environment toxic for businesses. If Kogi State can do this to a whole Dangote, what will be the fate of business people who do not have access to the upper echelons of power?
But, come to think of it, does it not stretch incredulity that anybody, be it a government official can, out of the blue, claim ownership of an asset? Does it not beggar belief? The longer this saga is processed, the more it appears extreme and distasteful. Where is the place of dialogue? Which message is being sent to other investors who may be thinking of Kogi State?
We get to hear about the Kogi State government’s forceful takeover because it is Dangote. Many businesses, particularly in the SME sector, are getting a raw deal in the hands of government operatives. In July, the umbrella body of manufacturers in Nigeria said the ease of doing business is worse now than it was in the last recession!
Add to this is oil theft on a scale that has never been seen before, and is capable of derailing public finances, you get the picture of a country drifting. Though NNPC’s honcho and military chiefs with TV cameras in tow are discovering illegal oil pipelines and tap points, bringing live pictures to Nigerians, the action looks too synchronised to be taken without a pinch of salt. Many commentators have said crude oil cannot be stolen like candy on a shelf. Quite true. It requires a huge network to carry out such heist, move it out of the country and sell.
On the one hand, government is haranguing companies paying taxes and on the other, the petroleum industry, its easy pickings for revenue, is losing huge income. At 900,000bpd last month, crude oil output was at its lowest in decades! How many countries can survive such aggravating circumstances?
Only Nigeria, it appears. The country has been likened to a cat with nine lives, sometimes, the eighth wonder of the world. Nothing can shake Nigeria or Nigerians – not harsh economic conditions, not grossly inadequate power, where business’ OPEX is majorly spent providing alternative energy while still paying huge bills for public power that is in the main unavailable, where government officials of all shades (federal, state and local) are imposing arbitrary levies on businesses, and where government borrows more than it earns, on and on the woes read.
Is Nigeria irredeemable? Certainly not by any stretch of the imagination. The country is like a company that has a lot of underutilised assets. If well managed, immense benefits will be delivered to its shareholders (read: citizens). Until our socio-political elite arrive at a Nigeria first consensus as their main interest, the country will continue to flounder. There have been modest gains, though.
Investment in infrastructure – railway, roads, power, among others, and the evolving democratic practice where voters are increasingly deciding who gets what – bodes well for the future. If the electoral umpire sticks to its pledge of conducting credible elections next year, then 2023 could be start of truly representative government accountable to the people.
At meiza.ng, we are convinced of Nigeria’s potential to be a great nation. That is why we devote considerable resources to showcase the beauty and possibilities of the country. Take our commentary in the Business segment, for instance, where we highlighted Engr. Simbi Wabote’s six years as Executive Secretary of the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB). Public servants are usually wringing their arms in helpless surrender at the challenges they are in office to resolve. He took a different route and delivered.
There are also some other interesting content on entertainment, travel, among others. I hope you’d enjoy reading and enjoying our uniquely Nigerian content.
Adewole Ojo
Ayodelé is a Lagos-based journalist and the Content and Editorial Coordinator at Meiza. All around the megacity, I am steering diverse lifestyle magazine audiences with ingenious hacks and insights that spur fast, informed decisions in their busy lives.
