PARASITES AND THE NIGERIAN ECONOMY

Now that the Central Bank Monetary Policy Committee meeting has finally decided NOT to devalue the Naira or leave it to market forces, it must be accepted consciously that parasites have done more damage to this economy than any one else.
Like the typical parasite, the Nigerian parasites have always been concerned with immediate gains; and alleviating immediate pains, all so long as the juicy source of livelihood remains juicy.
The problem comes when the pot dries up or begins to feel the onslaught of the parasites then the real options become clear: They are either removed from the system or the pot will finally dry up and collapse beyond repairs.
No doubt the Nigerian economy is in serious depression now because foreign exchange inflow from crude oil sales has dried to a trickle. Thank God for this because it offers golden opportunity to dislodge all parasites.
Now which or who are the parasites who must not be allowed to continue to feed on what is left? Simple: Those who have been round tripping foreign exchange; those who have been smuggling crude oil and petroleum products to or through neighbouring countries; those who have been smuggling all kind of fruits and foodstuff into the country; those who have been smuggling second hand items including cars into the country; those who have been collecting monies from transport workers without offering any service; those who persist in exploiting espirit de corps to escort law breakers especially of the smuggling type and those who, for whatever reason, have been diverting public funds from approved uses or deploying same in reduced portions.
Yes, the list is almost endless and it cuts across all the tribes and religions of present day Nigeria.
Yes, too they are powerful because there is no elected government they have not sponsored or voted for unblock.
Yes they are so spread out it will be quite a task dislodging them especially when a government is so preoccupied with only the corrupt parasites who divert public funds or make policies and facilities less impactful.
Yes to all that and the fact that once a currency is weak, foreign investors prefer struggles to stabilise such currencies as against not being too preoccupied with the present value of the currency, instead concentrating on reviving the local economy out of over dependence on foreign exchange.
That means stopping all those "owo da" furious expressions from otherwise better employable area boys by whatever they are officially called.
It also means stopping pipeline vandals, smugglers, and those who divert scarce resources from continuing to do so. It means deliberately introducing policies that gradually end importation by whatever means of all items and processes that can be produced here.
Now, this won't be easy. The naira at the black market may continue to tumble, some investors will be forced to look elsewhere for now, but rest assured that if Nigeria and Nigerians stick to all these in spite of the immediate pains and loss of so called friendly investors, we stand a better chance of emerging from the storm like China.
Unfortunately, President Buhari entered the ring handicapped by political promise to make life better for the poor immediately. That does not help matters at all. One because he inevitably will find himself annoying local investors by drumming publicist rich versus the poor drums.
More importantly, he will end up running an economy that diverts newly gained grounds into wealth distribution channels before the tank becomes full and secure to take this in its stride.