THE HOLIDAY IS OVER!

THE HOLIDAY IS OVER!

For
 many years, the Nigerian elite have been on holidays. We lived on 
borrowed money, spent unearned credit and enjoyed the good life. Boy! We
 went on like the party would never end.
After
 the Reggae, play the blues! I am not sure that even my incredibly 
creative brother, Harry Song, knows the full meaning of the words of his
 sassy song that is creating commotion on the dance floor. We are 
finally done dancing the Reggae. Now the Blues is playing and it is not 
funny.

You 
have a right to say what you may about a certain Ngozi Okonjo Iweala and
 her good management or lack of it of it of the Nigerian economy or her 
contribution to the still unfolding Dasukigate. I heard Madam repeatedly
 warn everyone that one day soon the bubble would burst and the day of 
reckoning would come. I am not sure anyone knew how quickly the bubble 
would burst and how loud the burst would be. Now, here we are. There is 
no more gala to share.

Does
 anyone remember the Sovereign Wealth Fund? At the time that Nigeria was
 giddily pumping crude oil and shipping it across the world for $108 a 
barrel, Dr. Iweala had warned that some of that money should be saved in
 a rainy day fund so that whenever oil lost its luster, Nigerians would 
have something to eat. A good number of our raunchy governors warned the
 Finance Minister to stay off ‘their money’. They reminded her that she 
did not contest any elections. They demanded that the money be given to 
them pronto and they rocked at home and abroad, bought choice houses in 
cities everywhere and dashed tear-rubber Range Rover jeeps to young 
girls.

After
 the Reggae, play the blues! Suddenly our oil has lost its luster. It is
 now selling at $29 dollars a barrel and that is if we find anyone to 
buy it. Please, Nigeria does not make $29 for a barrel of crude oil 
sold. There is the cost of production, the cost of shipping and income 
to those who have invested in the processes. What we really get is the 
change and we have 170 million mouths to feed. The Naira is behaving 
like an Olympic diver and inflation is staring us in the face. The 
holiday is over.

I
 have wondered what would have happened if His Excellency, Dr. Goodluck 
Ebele Jonathan had been re-elected. How would he have wrestled with this
 crazy situation? Tell me, where would he have found the gala or the 
booze for Tompolo, Asare Dokubo, Orubebe, Clark, Anene, OPC, MASSOB, 
Afenifere, Ohaneze, the Obas, his pastor friends, Nollywood and the 
motley PDP journey men who have developed a voracious and insatiable 
appetite for choice champagne, marble homes, easy women, travels around 
the world and the good life? How would he have kept the promises made to
 the many-many groups from whom he sought support in those desperate 
days?

At 
the end of the day, those wailing that GEJ lost the election do not know
 what God has done for him. Goodluck Jonathan is a truly lucky man. His 
name, Goodluck has served him well again. It is not his enemies that he 
would have had to worry about. It is his friends who would have 
repeatedly besieged him asking, ‘where is the gala, where is the 
booze?’ 

Amazingly
 True account of events! Nigerians have lived in Nigeria and spent 
dollars at home buying luxurious and second hand goods all made abroad. 
We live here but send our children abroad to school. Truly that bubble 
has burst but there are new opportunities. It is time to use Naira to 
buy made in Nigeria products. It starts from Petrol and other products 
from oil. This is mostly from the government. As individuals however, we
 should position ourselves for the made in Nigeria products most people 
will be forced to buy. When your British TM Lewin shirt costs N40,000 
each, maybe one will ask himself if it is worth buying. The CBN has 
published a list of 41 items banned from accessing dollars from CBN. 
This list includes pencils and toothpicks ! These items need to be made 
in Nigeria. Clothes are also on that list. Where are the designers and 
shirt makers? These are some of the available opportunities. It's time 
to look inwards people and you will emerge as winners after the dust has
 settled

TONY OKOROJI

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