Nigeria’s Economic Crisis: Can Paul Chukwuma’s Plan Save The Day?

OBI TRICE EMEKA 

The Nigerian economy appears to have befuddled all analysts, with various predictions and analyses yielding little progress. It seems both the government and experts have thrown their hands up in the air in exasperation, perhaps overwhelmed and conceding defeat. I jokingly told a friend last week that I rarely see economists and financial analysts on television these days, unlike pre-2023 when they championed the free market economy.

It was my quest for solutions to Nigeria’s hydra-headed economic woes that piqued my interest when I read about Paul Chukwuma’s keynote speech at the Hybrid International Conference hosted by the Faculty of Management of Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka. The conference theme, “Governance and Sustainable Development in Africa: Issues and Strategies,” aligned perfectly with Chukwuma’s expertise.

Chukwuma, a first-class graduate in Philosophy from the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, transitioned into law and graduated with a first-class degree from Baze University, Abuja He also holds an LL.M in Intellectual Property and Information Technology from the University of Derby, UK, with distinction. As Chairman of the Nigeria-Burundi Business Council, Chukwuma brought unparalleled knowledge to the table and has been rated as one of Nigeria’s notable intellectual thinkers

Chukwuma’s diagnosis was straightforward: Nigeria’s economic growth must be tied to the cumulative productivity of its people, with universities playing a functional role in research to connect industrial output and societal needs. Simple yet brilliant! Nations thrive on the cumulative productivity of their citizens. Nigeria’s failure has been the inability of successive governments to trigger productivity across all sectors, likely due to being bogged down by the Dutch disease.

Chukwuma argued that universities should research and provide solutions that can be commercialised. He criticised the obsession with pursuing professorships rather than solutions, creating a vicious cycle that has downgraded the need for solutions in universities. Chukwuma emphasised that consumption-to-production would remain a cliché until research from universities provides a solid foundation for the transition.

In economic terms, cumulative national productivity is measured by Gross Domestic Product (GDP), the summation of all economic activities in a country. Unfortunately, Nigeria’s GDP has been underperforming, averaging less than 3 per cent growth over the past few years. Ideally, it should be in double digits to significantly impact Nigerians’ lives by raising income and reducing inequality and unemployment. But with general productivity across the country low, the GDP rate has remained low.

Every region in Nigeria is richly endowed with various raw materials, yet we’ve failed to
convert these resources into end-use products. Chukwuma attributed this failure to the disconnect between university research and industrial demand.

Chukwuma advocated for total support of “Made in Nigeria” products. He noted, “Years ago, we laughed at Taiwan’s inferior products. With gradual improvement, their products now traverse the globe.” As he correctly proposed, there is a correlation between patriotism and national productivity. Chukwuma urged Nigeria to adopt local products, even if they seem inferior, to stimulate national growth. He did this by praising local manufacturers like Innoson, who are taking charge of national productivity.

Chukwuma is not an armchair critic. He is the founder of Olivia University, Burundi, a STEM-focused university in East Africa focused on providing young Africans with the skills to create solutions to the myriad of Africa’s problems. I heard that a similar university is being set up in his hometown of Umueri. Also, a steel mill he has a controlling interest in is presently being set up in Anambra State.

Nigeria is in an economic cul-de-sac, and Chukwuma’s solution – homegrown and centred on national productivity – offers a way out. By innovating end-use products for the various raw materials available in Nigeria, Nigeria can establish labour-intensive production chains across local government areas, slashing unemployment, inequality, and insecurity, and thus raising income and government revenues

There’s no alternative to triggering national productivity without embracing Chukwuma’s strategy, which empowers universities as innovators, churning out solutions regularly.