Senior Software Engineer (Full Stack Web/Mobile App Developer) | Experienced Data Scientist | Machine Learning Engineer | Business Intelligence Analyst | Creative Digital Marketer
No. 1 and No. 3 are solid points for those in government to deeply reflect on rather than strategize for re-election while many Nigerians are going to bed without food in their stomach and with no hope of what to eat the following day. Meanwhile, can we just have a one-term government in Nigeria, both at the federal and state levels? It could be 5 or 6 years at most. And the constitution must bar such individuals, never to re-contest for the same office. I believe that will force each of them to work dedicatedly from Year 1 while leveraging on the vast skillsets and decades of local and international experience of astute professionals (technocrats to the core except for Local Government Affairs) appointed as ministers/commissioners with the hope of leaving behind a legacy they will be proud of when out of office. We don’t have to copy the US or UK in everything. Our challenges are very unique and so must be our solutions. Past Administrations have proven the 2-term arrangement to be a catalyst for slow infrastructural development and massive corruption, motivated by the dire need to prepare for re-election. I think a 5-year duration is just excellent. If that particular government happens to fail, we will still have another 5-year duration for an entirely different government that we can look forward to before a decade fully comes to an end. A decade of failure is enough to permanently ruin or even end the life of an aspiring Nigerian Youth. With 2 different governments in place within that period, such possibility can be greatly minimized. The new government should also be mandated by the constitution to continue the long-term projects of the previous government irrespective of political affiliations as long as due process was followed by the previous government. External Debts should also be avoided for government projects no matter how easily accessible except for short-term projects that designated government agencies have competently verified as projects that will yield a minimum of 10x within the 5 years of that government. Except that, we shouldn’t entrap ourselves with the burden of External Debts, judging by the quality of human and natural resources abundantly available in the country. Regarding No. 2, as long as those in government were voted/appointed to govern Nigerians, and their lifestyle and itineraries are funded with the people’s money, then they are constitutionally bound to find a lasting solution to the economic situation of the country. Being Nigerians themselves, I don’t think they need any protest to feel the excruciating pain of the people. They only need to prove in every way that they truly care for the governed. That’s all. Wow! I said a lot today. My two cents, anyway. 😊
Managing Partner @ Accelerate Africa | Investor and Consigliere to African founders
Very recently I had the pleasure of speaking to an uncle and mentor Mr Laolu Akande on national television about critical national issues and how we can craft a future where talent is valued and nurtured in Nigeria. There are three key points that summarize our broader hour long discussion : 1. What is between the ears of the people above the ground is more valuable than what is below the ground. As a society we presume what makes us a rich nation is mineral resources that can be extracted and exported raw. However we ignore the human and intellectual capital that makes those raw materials valuable in the first place. We also forget that whatever we may earn from the raw materials is a tiny fraction of the full global value chain these natural resources makes possible. The right reaction isn’t to trap the resources in the ground but to work hard to develop the intellectual capacity of our youth so they can leverage these natural resources to better society. 2. Abuja in particular and government in general has no solutions for our problems. We need to invest in being, finding and supporting leaders and innovators in our local communities who understand the real issues on the ground and are committed to bringing people together to solve them. Protesting to Abuja is like praying to an idol. Let’s get practical and demonstrate leadership on the ground. 3. Over the next 30 years as a society we literally have to choose who we want to be when we grow up. Do we want to be India who took their medicine early and deeply invested in education and human capital so they could catch the internet and database wave and build a multi trillion dollar economy on human capital or do we want to be Pakistan who allowed their divisive politics consume them so much that they missed several technology waves and are now struggling. Artificial Intelligence could either be an incredible opportunity for our nation to build a new dollar earning middle class by enabling young Nigerians gain the competence to become the human in the loop or it could be the ice berg that sinks our ship as young people who are currently being occupied doing remote work on the internet are replaced by AI powered virtual workers. If you’ve got an hour you could always watch my interview and let me know your thoughts below :
