In Defence Of Bayo Onanuga

TEMITOPE AJAYI 

When some people talk about the 1960s and 1970s with nostalgia, they talk about the price of rice, the price of beans, and all that. You hear the cost of Volkswagen Beetle and Peugeot 504 was less than N3,000, and that the cost of a ticket to London was marginal.

When people say these things, what they don’t say is that then rice, for example, was not a staple food like it is now for a majority of households today. It was a special occasion food for most families, particularly for Christmas and other celebrations. The salary and total emolument of a federal permanent secretary in the 1970s was probably less than N4,000 per annum.

In 1981, the annual salary of a grade level 8 graduate in federal employment was N3,564 per annum. So, it wasn’t the case that people were splurging in the 1960s and 1970s and that they could afford whatever they fancied. Many of the economic opportunities that exist now in technology, financial services, e-commerce, creative economy, telecommunications, and hospitality were not even available at the time.

When discussing economic history, it is important to situate the issues in proper contexts for better understanding.