BEYOND DANGOTE AND FRIENDS.
When the piece titled Buhari:s cash cows? was written last week, one had hoped that the sudden birth of punitive fines was not really an attempt to build a nest from which the holier than thou President could keep his political promises.
That hope still stands even though yet another fine notice recipient. Guinness Nigeria. surfaced within the week alleging that NAFDAC has imposed one billion Naira fine on it for destroying its raw materials without permission.
Perhaps Guinness Nigeria was being economical with the truth. Perhaps the raw materials were bad and the company destroyed evidence in the dark after being caught.
Indeed, perhaps all the fine notices flying around is an attempt to show everyone doing business in Nigeria that change has come; that breaking rules and regulations or bending them with impunity is no more good business; that what looked like government of Dangote and friends by Dangote and friends for Dangote and friends in the past had not transformed into a more dangerous monster.
Perhaps, perhaps, perhaps. However, it needs to be reemphasized that if President Buhari is hoping to raise money through such fines to give 25m unemployed youths N5000 monthly; give one meal daily to pupils across the land and satisfy all other promises, disaster looms.
1) Because such hand outs can not be sustained for long even it makes political sense.
2) Because it will amount to trying to change peoples standard of living without solid economic base for same like we have been busy showcasing a supposedly rich giant of Africa thus turning oil boom into oil doom.
3) Finally because each huge fine imposed on any company is actually a tax on the capital of shareholders, it is left for today's leaders to decide if they want to risk investors, foreign or local, disappointment.
Naturally one great risk in democracy is that once a leader is elected, all followers are duty bound to live with his wildest dreams even if such a leader is cutting noses to spite faces. Or join the opposition and of course, risk being so branded and dealt with in this part of the world.
That hope still stands even though yet another fine notice recipient. Guinness Nigeria. surfaced within the week alleging that NAFDAC has imposed one billion Naira fine on it for destroying its raw materials without permission.
Perhaps Guinness Nigeria was being economical with the truth. Perhaps the raw materials were bad and the company destroyed evidence in the dark after being caught.
Indeed, perhaps all the fine notices flying around is an attempt to show everyone doing business in Nigeria that change has come; that breaking rules and regulations or bending them with impunity is no more good business; that what looked like government of Dangote and friends by Dangote and friends for Dangote and friends in the past had not transformed into a more dangerous monster.
Perhaps, perhaps, perhaps. However, it needs to be reemphasized that if President Buhari is hoping to raise money through such fines to give 25m unemployed youths N5000 monthly; give one meal daily to pupils across the land and satisfy all other promises, disaster looms.
1) Because such hand outs can not be sustained for long even it makes political sense.
2) Because it will amount to trying to change peoples standard of living without solid economic base for same like we have been busy showcasing a supposedly rich giant of Africa thus turning oil boom into oil doom.
3) Finally because each huge fine imposed on any company is actually a tax on the capital of shareholders, it is left for today's leaders to decide if they want to risk investors, foreign or local, disappointment.
Naturally one great risk in democracy is that once a leader is elected, all followers are duty bound to live with his wildest dreams even if such a leader is cutting noses to spite faces. Or join the opposition and of course, risk being so branded and dealt with in this part of the world.
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