Much as these foreign junkets appear entrepreneurial and investment promotion related, they are beneficial only to the extent that some unresolved peculiar domestic predicaments are factored into the writing of the major papers presented at the conferences as well as in the deliberations and the final agreement structured. Because, as we all know, the experts who are most often called upon or invited to deliver papers and lectures at most of these conferences, have never been to the respective countries of the participating Heads of States and Governments.
Historically, the participating experts who represent foreign countries during deliberations and negotiations, whether Bilateral or Multilateral, have no idea that participating country like Nigeria does not have a steady supply of electricity. That its major Highways are inundated with incessant Police Checkpoints; thus, hamstringing the smooth and steady movement of goods and services. That imported goods and mechanize that arrived at the major Port are not guaranteed to be cleared within a month of arrival at the Port. That demurrage related debts are celebrated in Nigeria. That government agents and workers at the few international airports openly and shamelessly demand ransom from travelers arriving in the country. That the same major Highways that are inundated with incessant Police Checkpoints are most often invaded by armed robbers in broad daylight and dispossess victims of their valuables, while the unlucky ones are kidnapped for ransom. And that the apex bank monetary policy is haphazard and it doesn't enjoy a firm control over the circulation of foreign currencies in the domestic market. That is Nigeria and our peculiarities in broad view.
Sadly, whenever the foreign and domestic economic experts deliberate on the right investment channel and economic model for Nigeria at most of these conferences abroad and at home, they hardly give cognizance to the enumerated predicaments in this essay and their unquantified financial impacts into their body of works, presentations, or agreements. So, before you resort to doing a digest of Carl Marx, Hegel, Friedrick Engels, Adam Smith, Capitalism, Socialism, Communism, Free Market, Laissez-faire, Regulated Market, Austerity Measures, and all what none, you must first do a digest of all the enumerated Nigerian peculiarities above and eliminate them accordingly. We cannot dispute the fact; like China, Nigeria is a huge market. MTN is a testament to that. Shop Rite is another example. Just fix the enumerated domestic problems, and foreign investors will troop in uninvited. And all the estacode related wastage would be channeled to better investment use. Anyway, I wish President Buhari good luck on his trip.
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