Political economist and management expert, Prof. Pat Utomi, has called on the federal government to build a stable economy that will promote, rather than kill existing businesses in the country.

Utomi, who spoke yesterday on the Morning Show of ARISE NEWS Channel, the broadcast arm of THISDAY Newspapers, accused the federal government for the failure of most businesses in the country, through its harsh regulatory policy implementation.

According to him, "The Nigerian government is the reason businesses fail in Nigeria.

The biggest risk of doing business in Nigeria is regulatory risk, because the regulator is dangerous in Nigeria, and there is a cultural problem. If you are given a uniform in Nigeria, you are defined as a bully. So, if you are an official of the Lagos State Transport Management Authority (LASTMA) for instance, you will harass people.

There is need to change the mindsets of those in authority, to realise that their duty is to facilitate, and not to bully."

Citing an article that was published on May 28, 2019 in one of the national dailies, with the headline: 'Nigeria Africa's Money Losing Machine', Utomi said the point that the article buttressed was if any investor wants to lose money, such investor should go into Nigeria.

"Let's leave foreign direct investment (FDI) for now because FDI can stimulate things, it is very important and very useful, but let's make capital at home, but the truth is that government is preventing capital from being made at home. And I don't think it's because they are wicked but because they are ignorant. So we have a joint lesson to educate each other on how we can build an economy and innovate. We cannot make progress without innovation, even though innovation is going to be difficult. Those who innovate are usually 10 steps ahead of those who regulate, because they know so much better than those who regulate," Utomi said.

Citing another example with Ford Motors on innovation, Utomi said when Ford doubled wages in the past, and created a minimum wage of $5, Wall Street Journal wrote an editorial, accusing Ford of creating problems for other manufacturers and producers. He, however, argued that the action by Ford actually created the middle class as it is known in America today, adding that some argued that the reason he did it was because he said that those who produce these cars should be able to buy them.

"I think that what we must do in this country is facilitate innovators because innovators are good in passing the risk to commercial banks. So, who is going to grow the economy, because those who have the ideas who will innovate are ahead of them, and the banks don't understand or don't want to be involved in innovation. I feel personally pained for the fight that some of us fought in the 80s, wishing the General Babangidas' of this world, to open up that space, because the bankers that came out of it are all those big men now extracting rent. The whole idea of the fight that some of us fought, and were called names in the 80s, was essentially meant to create a financial system that will drive growth and help this economy really come out of the situation it was in with an oligopolistic banking system, that did not really finance growth," Utomi said.

Addressing the issue about borrowing, Utomi said: "I agree that Western banks did not have moral integrity to press down on countries like Nigeria that got into a debt problem, because they give irresponsible loans, but they used the International Monetary Fund (IMF) as their policeman to pressure those countries to pay back debts that were not reasonable to have been extended."

Speaking about governance, Utomi said part of his challenge with Nigeria is that the country focused too much on power rather purpose of building a strong nation with viable sustainable economy.

He said he was involved in virtual meetings with a group in the United Sates of America, that wanted to focus on the fact that Nigeria's major problem was quality of leadership, where he argued about the process of selecting people for leadership positions in public life.

"I keep saying that we don't have a national strategy. How do we grow this economy, when we keep throwing out numbers, and that's a problem because it's all nonsense. Nigeria needs to invest appropriately in our young people, and make it the basis for the new growth and the expansion that this economy needs. I think that unless we see these things in this context, focusing on purpose, the obsession with power, will just make us poorer, more miserable, create more insecurity, and all the kinds of problems that we're dealing with today. So this is really the clear starting point, which is purpose and not power," Utomi said.

Stressing the need for job creation in the country, Utomi commended the telecommunications sector that is being regulated by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), for creating millions of direct and indirect jobs for Nigerians, through the transparent auction of GSM license in 2001.

He advised government to focus on the country's endowment and develop them. "In North-central, there are sesame seeds, South-south, hydrocarbons value chains, South-west is cocoa. Government should be able to take those endowments, literally build economies around those endowments, basically through education and the economy of the country will develop faster and jobs will be created," Utomi further said.

Copyright This Day. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com)., source News Service English