Rebranding Nigeria: Good people, impossible mission

LAGOS

From The Economist

The government of a great nation tries a short cut to salvation

Illustration by Peter Schrank

A NEW joke is doing the rounds in Nigeria. Got a problem with your car, or your generator’s stopped working? Don’t fix it! Rebrand it! The grim humour reflects scepticism about a national rebranding campaign launched by the government to bring tourists and foreign investment to Nigeria, and generally to buff up the country’s image. The campaign’s slogan is “Nigeria: Good People, Great Nation”.

The force behind it is Dora Akunyili, the new minister of information. She welcomes the fact that Nigerians are talking and even laughing about the rebranding. “It was not my intention but I am very happy it has generated these discussions, because they are very healthy for our democracy,” she says.

Ms Akunyili made a name for herself as the campaigning head of the country’s food and drug standards’ agency. Her zealous pursuit of counterfeit medicines nearly earned her a bullet in the head, leaving instead a hole in her headdress. Aware of the cynicism, she says she will not spend any extra public money on the rebranding campaign. Instead, she has about $1m left over from the government’s previous attempt to rebrand Nigeria which carried the slogan “Nigeria, Heart of Africa”. She wants private business to meet the rest of the cost.

The previous exercise failed, and there is little reason to expect the latest one to do much better. Many Nigerians say their government should tackle the country’s fundamental problems—power shortages, crime and corruption—before worrying about its image. “They [the government] have been sending texts to my phone, telling us about how to reorganise Nigeria, how to reorganise our minds, our heads,” says Olufemi Oyegun, an oil-and-gas man in Lagos, the commercial capital. “But it’s our leaders that are our main problem, not the people.”

Fraud and corruption still scare businesses away from Nigeria, even though its market of 140m people is Africa’s largest. In a recent report, ORC Worldwide, a consultancy, listed Lagos, with its violent crime, bad roads and wretched sanitation, as the world’s worst place for expatriates to live in. A spot of rebranding is unlikely to wash away such awkward findings.

Source: The Economist

Ghanaians must unite behind President Mills

Now that the elections are over and the president has finished enjoying his honey moon, the people of Ghana must unite behind him and his ministers as they try to move the nation forward. Democracy is not just about multi party elections but include the whole process of development and nation building. Citizens must therefore get involved in the building of the nation as they did during elections.

Since 1966 Ghana has been marking time while other countries are moving forward. We have been left behind in everything that matters to mankind. Our education, our health system, our environment, roads, electricity, water, agriculture, infrastructures, and above all our economy are all behind. We still wash our clothes with our hands and farm with cutlasses and hoes. Our houses and communities are without water, toilet facilities, electricity, shopping centres, children playgrounds and libraries. Our streets are unpaved and many of the houses in the rural areas are still built with mud and roofed with raffia leaves. This does not have to be so but because politics of lies and lack of strong, competence, dedicated and visionary leadership we have been forced to go begging as a nation. But the people also share part of the blame for tolerating their lies and not putting them on their toes to deliver on their promises. Our peers in Asia have moved forward socially and economically while we are still fighting over petty things.

There is time for everything. There will be time for politics in 2012 but now it is time for nation building and development. Therefore it is time for the government and the people of Ghana to stand up and be counted as human species. It is time for action and solutions to solve the numerous problems facing the nation. It is time to end the politicisation of every national issue in the country. Therefore every issue in the country must viewed away from party politics or be based on bi-partisanship. It is time to develop the nation and build the infrastructures.  And it is time for government to formulate sound economic policies to generate jobs, built the nation's infrastructure and resurrect the defunct factories so that jobs could be created for the millions of Ghanaians who remain unemployed and destitute. 

There are a number of things Government must do to make Ghana the new Africa Tiger. First of all the President and his team must have vision as to how they want to see Ghana after four years and those visions must be integrated into national policies and programmes. We all know Dr. Nkrumah’s vision led him to build Akosombo dam, two universities, Tema city and the harbour, nursing and teachers training colleges, numerous secondary schools and a number of factories most of whom have been sold or let to rot. All these were achieved during his nine years as president.

To revive the economy and create jobs for the youth, government must set aside a certain percentage of Ghana's Gross Domestic Product to build the infrastructures including roads, power plants, rail lines, hospitals, schools and housing. This will not only create jobs but will also provide the enabling environment for investors to invest in the country which will lead to further expansion of the economy. Government must work with the private sector to establish processing factories to take care of the waste that occur in the Agricultural sector.

Government must also take the opportunity to fight corruption which is slowly destroying the nation. Therefore, the president must ensure that anti corruption watchdog institutions are made independent, strengthened and adequately resourced so they can do their jobs properly. 

The years of aid dependency and loans and its associated odious debts must end. No nation has ever developed on hand outs and left over from other nations. Government must therefore come up with ingenious ways to mobilise internal and external funds for use in nation building. Government must market the nation abroad through bonds and stocks selling. Government must work vigorously and aggressively to sell the nation to those with private capital. What Ghana needs are investment, trade and not aid which cripples us and make us beggars in eyes of aid donors. Government must seek genuine partners in development not multinational corporations whose intentions are to rip the nation off.

All these require President Mills to show strong and dedicated leadership and commitment to diversify and build the nation beyond just exporting cocoa, gold and importing used stuff from abroad. Ghanaians deserve better than that. The broken promises and pledges by previous administrations have not done the nation any good. 

As the President and his ministers begin to travel abroad they should look at how the nations they visit have developed and how their citizens are enjoying better education, health, and high living standards and try to think about how they can help Ghanaians to do the same. Every travel by the president, his vice or any of his ministers must be a lesson and followed by action. The days of unfulfilled pledges, promises must be a thing of the past. While supporting the president and his ministers to meet their challenges facing the nation, the people must male sure the deliver on his campaign promises, pledges and targets he set for himself. 

Whatever Ghana receives as GDP must be used judiciously to develop all the sectors of the economy and must not be siphoned away by corrupt entities who only reason for asking for ministerial and district chief executive positions is to enrich themselves at the expense of millions of poor Ghanaians.

As president you ill be remembered for what you do and achieve for Ghana. Some of your ministers may be given credit for what they do but you will receive the blames or praises for whatever happens in your government. That is the more reason why you must be firm on your ministers and ensure that they are implementing your agenda and that the vision that you have is being pursued to the letter.

What is important is for your government to build on what the former government left off so that by the time your term end the nation will be more peaceful, more united and more developed than ever before.

Ghanaians must rise above party politics and contribute whatever they can to make the nation a better place today so that future generations will not experience economic hardship the way we are today. Please let us end the petty bickering and partisan politics and device more ingenious ways to build our nation so that by the time 2012 comes Ghanaians can proudly say we are no more the same four years ago. Every citizen must play his or her role in our quest to develop, however much depend on the president and his ministers as well as the leadership of the opposition parties and the entire population of Ghana.

The president must take steps to diffuse the tribal and ethnic tension in the country by bringing the tribal and ethnic leaders in the country together. Such tensions are unnecessary detraction and do not serve the country any good. All political and traditional leaders must work towards peace in the country. We must remember that instability anywhere in the country is a threat to stability everywhere. We cannot develop as a nation without political stability. Therefore our brothers and sisters in the north must work towards peace and eschew violence and anything that might undermine the development of the country. We must all recognise that there are more things that unite us as a nation than those that divide us and we must work to improve on those than unite us.

Ministers must not look at what they will get as ministers but what responsibilities have been placed on them to make Ghana the new Africa Economic Tiger. It should not be a harvest time for them but a call to duty. Projects costs should not be inflated because such activities deny the people the needed facilities to survive. Every penny of the state must be used to develop the nation for all to enjoy.

Ministers must not sit in their offices and expect the nation to develop. They get out and hit the ground to ensure that we are moving forward. They should be selfless, honest and be prepared to account for all the monies that go through their offices. We see children selling everywhere in the streets of Accra, Kumasi and many of our regional capitals. This is what the ministers are there for. These children are the future leaders of the nation. They should not suffer the way they are suffering now. Therefore the ministers and their lieutenants have a responsibility to make sure these unfortunate children will not endure the hardship they are today. 

The ministers must think about Ghana when they receive money from the Ministry of Finance to finance development projects. They must think about the electorate who elected them. They must think about the towns and villages without roads, running water, electricity, fertilisers, farming equipments, toilet facilities. Think about children going to school on empty stomach and parents without any economic opportunities. If they think about all these and begin to realise that the people need all that to survive then they should think about how they can help the people to build those facilities and infrastructures.

Ghanaians must not look to president and his government for everything. Traditional rulers must do more to use the resources they have to develop their communities instead of asking government for everything. It does not make sense as traditional leader when your people live in poverty while you claim to be a king, paramount chief. The traditional rulers in Ghana have been very passive when it comes to fighting poverty and that attitude must stop. As traditional leaders they should not defer their responsibilities to the government.

Whatever you do today as a minister, president, vice president and members of parliament will have its effects on the nation now and in future. Ghana must move forward. The Asia Tigers have made it. The gulf region made up of United Arab Emirate, Bahrain, Qatar and Saudi Arabia are making it.

 My only hope is that the future generation will not live to suffer the same chronic poverty, homelessness, unemployment, humiliation that has characterised the lives of Ghanaians in the last 40 years of our independence. Let us unite as one people with a common destiny and support the president and his ministers as they try to put the nation on the development map of the world.

I am a proud Ghanaian, are you?

 By Lord Aikins Adusei

The author is a Political Activist and Anti-Corruption Campaigner.

He blogs at www.ghanapundit.blogspot.com

Fulfilling Africa’s Economic Dreams

Part I: Africa Must Achieve Political Stability First Before Economic Development

The greatest threat to the economic development of Africa is political instability. Political stability is the foundation of economic development; it is the magic bullet and the magnet that holds all other activities in a country together; and provides the avenue for investment, job creation and raise the necessary revenue needed to fight poverty and diseases. Economic development thrives well in atmosphere of peace and tranquillity.

Since independence many of the countries in Africa have known only wars, coups, dictatorships and violence. This cycle of political instabilities has established the continent as a no go area for investors. Africa scores badly among investors as a place where the risk of investment is high and where businesses are done contrary to norm. Such concerns are largely informed by the anarchy in Somalia, Democratic Republic of Congo, Sudan, Northern Uganda, Guinea, Mauritania and the dictatorships in Gabon, Libya, Equatorial Guinea, Zimbabwe and many other places.

It is also informed by the violence in Kenya, Zimbabwe, Nigeria and the tensions in Ivory Coast. Such instabilities, wars and election violence seen in Africa are the major reasons why investors shy away from the continent; capital flight is high and the confidence of those with investment in the continent continue to wane. At the moment about $150b leave the continent annually due in part to the political stalemate in Sudan, Chad, DRC, Niger Delta, Northern Uganda, and the Great Lake Region.

The chaos, confusion and violence that always characterise elections create an atmosphere that only work to isolate the continent as attractive destination for investment and are the reasons why the continent is seen as the most expensive place in the world to do business. All these instabilities do not help the image of the continent and is a factor why endemic poverty is rampant.

Therefore to ensure investor confidence, promote and sustain economic development and growth, there should be a complete political stability in the whole of the continent. Without political stability it is impossible to achieve any economic development and fight poverty. It is a fact that you cannot rebuild your house while it is still in flames and so African countries must ensure they get stability first before talking about economic development. How do you construct roads in war zones or build a factory in militarised territories? Political stability is the homework African countries must do in order to achieve economic development. Establishing political stability through democratic processes is the magic bullet needed to defeat poverty.

To achieve political stability there are a number of tough decisions Africans must make. First the leadership in the continent must realise that instability anywhere is a threat to stability everywhere and cooperation from all the leaders is what is needed to defeat the instabilities. Therefore they must work together and coordinate to eliminate all those factors that act as magnet to engineer and fuel the instabilities.

Tyrannical rule, civil wars, and military adventurism must give way to democratic governance. It is the only way that can bring stability to the continent and prepare her for the economic development that has eluded her peoples for decades. Political stability is highly compatible with economic development; a disruption of one is a disruption of the other. Democratic governance is the political path Africa must chart if it is to prepare itself for economic development and social progress in this 21st Century and beyond.

This therefore calls for an end to dictatorial rule in all parts of the continent especially in Gabon, Equatorial Guinea, Angola, Congo, Libya, Egypt and Zimbabwe where few people, their families and cronies have hijacked their countries and taken the people hostage. All undemocratic leaders and tyrants must be made to understand that the days of unchecked and unaccounted power and despotic rule are over. The current situation where Gaddafi, an absolute dictator is calling for a federal Africa is totally unacceptable. The only acceptable way is for all leaders including Gaddafi, Obiang Nguema, and Blaise Campore to make themselves available for elections if they wish to serve the people and I mean serve the people not to be served by the people. All leaders in the continent must be reminded that they do not own their countries and the resources in them. The claim by Mugabe that “Zimbabwe is mine” should be condemned unequivocally.

The stability also calls for an end to all civil conflicts, military interventions and armed rebellious currently seen in Sudan, Uganda, DRC, Guinea, Mauritania, Chad, Nigeria and Ivory Coast. Use must be made of the few Africa role models in the continent like Joachim Chissano, Kofi Annan and Desmond Tutu to mediate to bring an end to the conflicts in Darfur, Somalia, Northern Uganda, DRC and all the troubled parts of the continent. All parties including individuals and groups with grievances must be encouraged to seek redress from the court instead of rushing to take up arms.

The leaders must realise that the current state of political unrest in Africa is in nobody’s interest not governments, opposition parties or the people and that is the more reason why democratic reforms must be spearheaded in countries where people have fewer political rights and cannot democratically change their leaders. People must be given the chance to elect their own leaders.

There should be a level playing field for the ruling governments and opposition parties so as to avoid allegations of vote rigging that are major cause of instabilities and violence in Ivory Coast, Kenya, Zimbabwe and Somalia among others. To ensure this there should be financial support to political parties and all parties must have unrestricted access to the state media. Again election observers must be allowed without any restriction to observe elections and make their own assessments without pressure from any quarters.

The AU and the sub regional bodies such as ECOWAS, SADC, EADC, COMESA, AMU and ECCA have a major role to play in ensuring the stability. The AU leaders must be reminded that instability anywhere is a threat to stability everywhere. The days where few individuals take over power and do what they like without the AU or sub-regional bodies saying or doing anything must end. Therefore, the Charters of AU and sub regional bodies should be implemented to the letter and all those who violate the charters should be punished severely. All clauses that limit the bodies from criticising or having greater role to play in times of crisis should be removed. 

The democratic countries in the continent should work closely together and encourage the less democratic ones to adopt reforms with the aim that Africa stands to gain more from being democratic than being under dictatorships and civil conflicts. Therefore all nations must be encouraged to ratify and implement the New Partnership for Africa Development (NEPAD) charter.

In addition each country should have a constitution that caps or stipulates a fixed term of office for political office holders and that fixed term should be adhered to even if a candidate is a messiah. The current situation in Algeria and Tunisia where both presidents have changed the constitution in order to run for a third term of office and in Nigeria where Olusegun Obasanjo tried unsuccessfully to run for a third term is very unfortunate and must be discouraged at all a cost for it is such actions by African rulers that have brought wars, coups and mayhem to however a peaceful people. Such actions only fuel corruption, nepotism, cronyism, abuse of power and mistrust between the ruling and opposition parties and serve as breeding ground for coups, civil unrest and political instabilities.

Even though the number of armed conflicts has gone down compared to a decade ago, the continent is still prone to instabilities and giving such a political climate, it is obvious that political stability will not be possible without an African Military High Command with powers to respond to crisis, emergencies and to crash any rebellion, arms insurgence that may show its ugly head in the Africa political scene. The establishment of AMHC should however be done on condition that all leaders will submit themselves to the rigour of elections and allow their people to choose whoever they want to lead them without intimidation, threats or whatsoever.

Tyrannical rule and military regimes are highly incompatible with the establishment AMHC and therefore all effort must be made to ensure that the wishes of the people are respected and that leaders are not forced onto the people unnecessary. Already the Southern Africa Development Community has created what they call SADC Brigade and it is beginning to make impact in the region which is encouraging.

The Pan-Africa Parliament should be fully resourced to deal with issues affecting the continent more importantly corruption, poverty, environmental degradation and political instabilities. Laws enacted by parliament must be binding on all members and countries that frown on the laws must be severely sanctioned.

The Africa Court of Justice must be made the highest in the continent with powers to settle disputes between and within countries. It must be a court of last resort in the continent and its ruling must be respected.

Africans cannot build a just society without a strong media and contribution of civil society organisations. The media, civil society organisations must be allowed to operate freely without fear of intimidation or attack and under no circumstances should a media house, NGO, and CBO be barred from operating in a country. Therefore in Sudan, Zimbabwe, Equatorial Guinea, Guinea and in many other countries where the media and NGOs have been banned, the governments involved must be forced by the AU to let them in.

Western political and business leaders must stop doing business with all the dictators, and coup makers the likes of Bongo, Obiang Nguema, Gaddafi, Mugabe and all those who have used undemocratic means to hold on to power. Sanctions and embargo targeting these leaders (not their people) should be enforced so as to force them to loose their grip on power. Western and Asia defence companies and contractors who illegally and irresponsibly ship arms to the continent to fuel the conflict and create instabilities for their own selfish interests must be identified and barred from doing any business in the continent.

A democratic Africa free from tyrants, coups, civil wars is the single most important ingredient necessary for attaining economic development because it is an undisputable fact that development thrives in atmosphere of peace and tranquillity not hostilities, instabilities and tyrannical rule. There is no way Gaddafi who doubles as Chairman of AU and head of state of Libya could advice Mugabe or Mwai Kibaki to accept election defeat when he (Gaddafi) has been a dictator for 39 years. There is no way Omar Bongo could advice Obiang Nguema when Bongo is the longest ruling head of state in the world. For Gaddafi and Bongo to offer any genuine advice they must relinquish power and allow free and fair elections to take place. Tyrannical rule, civil wars, and military adventurism must give way to democratic governance. It is the only way that can bring stability to the continent and prepare her for the economic development that has eluded her peoples for decades. Political stability is highly compatible with economic development; a disruption of one is a disruption of the other. This is the political path Africa must chart if it is to prepare itself for economic development and social progress in this 21st Century and beyond.

By Lord Aikins Adusei

The Author is a Political Activist and Anti Corruption Campaigner. He blogs at www.iloveafrica2.blogspot.com