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MARCH 5, 2007 VOL. 20. NO 21

Deception

**Adebayo Ojo**

The last quarterly luncheon by the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry,(LCCI) participants say, failed to address the major economic crisis in Nigeria
By Ganiyu Obaaro
If the mood and utterances of the participants at the crowded first quarterly business luncheon organised by the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry, LCCI at the Golden Gate Restaurant, Ikoyi, Lagos was anything to go by, then a new ray of hope lies ahead for Nigeria.
However, going by the reality on the ground, especially epileptic power supply, poor infrastructures, unemployment and mass poverty, there was a seeming indication that the forum was deceptive.
Expectedly, the luncheon which was addressed by Bayo Ojo, Attorney General and Minister of Justice, drew captains of industry including John Odeyemi, Nike Akande, a former Minister of Industry, Remi Omotosho, Director-General of LCCI, Lateef Adegbite, Secretary-General of Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs and businessman and Ademola Banjo.
In his welcome address, Ademola Ajayi, president of LCCI said the forum desired to “bring into focus topical issues of concern, to the business community and to advance the discharge of our public policy advocacy responsibility within the economy.”
For him, the focus of the forum, whose theme was the “Nigeria Legal Reforms and Their Implications for Investment Growth and Development,” was critical because the legal environment is a major factor in the conduciveness or otherwise of the totality of the investment environment. Ajayi was referring to enforcement of contractual obligations, property rights, efficiency of the court system and criminal justice delivery system. According to him, "a key attribute of an investment-friendly legal environment, is that court cases and their outcome would be timely and predictable, accelerate economic development, create jobs and enhance the welfare of the citizens.” Ajayi hinted that his chamber will soon establish a top-class Arbitration centre, to fast track dispute resolution, especially in the light of the on-going economic reform agenda of the out-going President Olusegun Obasanjos administration.
Bayo Ojo, Attorney General and Minister of Justice, who was the guest speaker, lauded President Olusegun Obasanjo for impacting positively on Nigerians, since May 29 1999, when he took over the country’s leadership. According to him, Nigeria was a pariah state before May 29, with poor capacity utilisation, large budget deficit, rising level of unemployment, poor infrastructures like road, power and communication, weak industrial base and over-reliance on oil as the nation’s major foreign exchange earner. Ojo also noted that the past eight years of the present administration has seen a re-engineering of the economy, based on a market-driven policy, private sector-led and highly competitive market, internally and globally. The minister also said that the policy is aimed at the provision of legal and regulatory frameworks to ensure the efficient operation of the market, security of lives and property and effective resolution of disputes.
He pointed to the war on corruption as a big laurel won by Obasanjo. According to him, through the Corrupt and Other Related Offences Act, the war on corruption was radicalised. Consequently, he said, the Independent Corrupt Practices and other-Related Offences Commission, ICPC, was established. Ojo also said that the establishment of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, (EFCC), headed by Nuhu Ribadu, is another practical step by President Obasanjo to tame corruption. He said: “The Act established EFCC with sweeping powers to investigate all financial crimes including advance free fraud, money laundering, counterfeiting, illegal charge transfer and computer credit fraud.
The revolution in the telecommunications sector, following the introduction of the Global System for Mobile Telecommunicatios, GSM, and the on-going independent power projects are also key areas, he said, President Obasanjo has also won laurels.
Strikingly, the minister had a doze of the epileptic power supply, as his speech was marred by power cut from the public power supply.
Many Nigerians, including the civil society and the organised private sector, however faulted the minister’s claim. They contend that there still exists a disequilibrium in the Nigerian economy, over dependence on oil petroleum as a major foreign exchange earner, unemployment, poor criminal justice system and insecurity of lives and properties.
Joshua Otitolaye of the United Action Democracy, (UAC), told The Source that more than any past government, the current administration of President Obasanjo has visited Nigerians with “unemployment, mass poverty, poor capacity utilisation, through his economic reform agenda". According to the activist, nearly all the Nigerian communities lack effective power supply, while high cost of petroleum products have virtually crippled the economy. He said the government’s economic polices lack any human face, while roads, railways and other key sectors, are in complete disarray.
Jide Mike, director-general of the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN), lamented that the nation’s industries are dying due to energy crisis, multiple taxes and infrastructural problems, all critical issues which Ojo deliberately over-looked.
For Chuks Ohia, a small-scale business operator in Lagos, the past few years have, indeed, been trying for businesses. According to him, loans from institutional lenders like the banks are unaccessible, while epileptic power supply or lack of it, have crippled businesses. Ohia dismissed the minister’s position as “untrue and a rape on the psche of Nigerians.”
John Odeyemi, past president of LCCI, had cause to worry about the poor state of the economy, Odeyemi bemoaned energy problems and poverty, as impacting negatively on the performance of businesses.