What is wrong with Nigeria and Africa as a whole?
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I always ask Nigerians this question,
If Nigeria has an angel as President, and angels from heaven as Governors, etc.
Is the revenue Nigeria earns right now per year enough if a kobo out of the money is not stolen?
An average Nigerian thinks Nigeria is rich, that if the money is not stolen, Nigeria has enough to meet all its needs.
I am not saying the Nigerian government is not wasteful or cannot do much better with the little it earns and I am not saying the leaders are doing a great job, but the thinking Nigeria is rich and the country just needs a leader that will share the wealth properly beats me.
If you think Nigeria is rich, the question is like which nation?
Which rich nation can we compare Nigeria too?
I did basic research about revenues of countries, companies, and states in Africa compared to those around the world and found the following
The revenue Nigeria earns in a full year, I mean everything including taxes, oil/gas revenue, VAT, customs, everything from January 1st to December 31st without sharing it at all,
the US government earns it in about 6 days.
The revenue Nigeria earns in a full year, the Chinese government earns it in about 7 days.
The revenue Nigeria earns in a full year, the UK government earns it in 3 weeks 1 day.
The revenue Nigeria earns in a full year, the Japanese government earns it in 12 days
Facebook earns more revenue than Nigeria in a year.
Nigeria’s full-year revenue is equivalent to Walmart’s revenue in 5 weeks.
What Lagos state the richest state in Nigeria with a population of close to 20 million generates in a full year (from everything including federal oil allocation, taxes, etc) Iceland a country with very little resources and less than 350,000 people earns it in less than 8 weeks.
For as long as Nigerians and Africa as a whole believe the riches are in the natural resources, Africa will remain poor.
What Congo Dr a country with one of the most resources and landmass in
the world and with over 80 million people earns in a year,
Luxembourg a country with less than 700,000 people with practically no resources earns it in less than 10 weeks.
Most countries and businesses that are rich around the world did not get it from natural resources, they got it from human resources (brainpower).
They got it from the value their people created and sold to the world.
This is why Bill Gates told Nigerian leaders that they don’t have a solid plan for human capital development.
What Is Wrong With Nigeria And Africa As A whole?
Nigeria will start moving forward, when the people, state and government stop thinking the prosperity the nation seeks will come from natural resources and start thinking about how to get it from human value creation.
This resource focused mindset is Africa’s biggest problem. This is why resource control and the struggle for who controls the resource is the biggest discussion in Nigeria.
What African nations lacks, is the ability to create value out of anything.
Developed nations are great at this, they know how to create value out of anything.
We all buy touch screen phones and smart TVs today. Do you believe that the material used to create 70% of a smartphone or smart TV is common soil and rocks(silica) that is available everywhere?
The thinking nations, take soil, convert it to a smart TV and sell it to non-thinking nations. They buy cocoa from Africa and sell chocolate back at 10 times the cost of cocoa.
That is creating something valuable out of nothing.
You might ask, OK we are here, where do we start?
Or I’ve heard this before and nothing has been done.
The No 1 starting point is for every African to start thinking and asking “what valuable thing can I create and export”.
No 2 is for a critical mass of Africans to create exportable value and to influence other Africans around them to create something valuable for export.
Imagine if each enlightened Nigerian or African can successfully influence 100 people to create something of value(product or service) for export. The African story will be much different in 15 years.
Most families in China have at least one person working directly or indirectly on a product created to be exported and used in other countries.
Chinese citizens are doing well with products, India citizens are doing well with services, Dubai businesses are doing well with tourism.
The way to grow the wealth of a nation is for every individual and business to make money from individuals and businesses in other countries.
Africa needs a critical mass of people to be value creators, influencers and exporters of refined products or valuable services.
A critical mass of Africans needs to learn the skill of creating value out of anything. The skill to squeeze value out of anything. The skill to see beyond face value and discover hidden gems of value.
If African nations and its people are waiting for their respective governments or other people to do something, I don’t think anything will change anytime soon.
I rest my case
What Is Wrong With Nigeria And Africa As A whole?
Johnson Dunmoye
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