Former Cross River State governor Donald Duke has blamed Nigeria’s worsening poverty, unemployment and insecurity on decades of poor productivity, saying the economy has failed to expand in line with the country’s population.
Duke, a former presidential candidate of the Peoples Redemption Party, spoke to journalists in Abuja on Tuesday.
He said Nigeria’s population had grown from about 76 million during the Second Republic to an estimated 230 million, while its annual spending, measured in dollar terms, remained around the level recorded during the administration of former President Shehu Shagari.
“I think we got it wrong from independence, but as the years go by, the effects become stark. We have not addressed the issue of productivity,” he said.
Duke said the Shagari administration operated an average annual budget of about $25bn between 1979 and 1983, arguing that Nigeria’s present economic capacity had not grown proportionately.
“Today, our population, they say, is about 230 million people. We are still spending the same $25bn that Shagari spent 46 years ago,” he said.
He said the consequences were evident in widespread poverty, unemployment, insecurity and the struggle by millions of Nigerians to meet their basic needs.
Duke argued that government’s priority should be to create a secure and orderly environment that allows citizens to be productive.
He also questioned the timing and economic justification of the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway, saying government should consider the opportunity cost of major infrastructure projects against other pressing needs.
Although he said the road would personally benefit him because he lives in Lagos and Calabar, Duke said personal convenience should not determine public spending.
“But even if it were the best road, with a sea view as you are going to Calabar, what is the economics of it? What is the opportunity cost?” he asked.
He said the government should give greater attention to the country’s large out-of-school population and the number of Nigerians living in poverty.
Duke also argued that economic deprivation contributes to ethnic, religious and regional divisions, saying citizens often turn to such affiliations when they believe they can provide access to scarce opportunities.
“I don’t believe that we are naturally tribalistic or ethnic. We use those things because they are advantageous to us,” he said.
According to him, Nigeria needs a clear national development vision that aligns spending, infrastructure, education and economic policies with productivity.
“The real task is to make our people productive,” Duke said.
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