OPINION BY SIMON KOLAWOLE: Five common errors about Nigeria (I) | TheCable
build all the roads in every nook and cranny of the federation, provide piped water to every house, build world-class hospitals in every village, and provide free primary, secondary and tertiary education — and still have plenty to spare for petrol and electricity subsidies and free healthcare for 200 million people. The biggest problem, they say, is corruption and waste.
According to various estimates, Nigeria needs about $80 billion yearly over the next 10 years to bridge its critical infrastructure gap. Critical infrastructure includes roads, power, water and healthcare. At the current “official” exchange rate of N454/$, that means we need N36 trillion per year for the next 10 years for critical infrastructural. That comes to N360 trillion .
By the time you adjust the GDP figures for population, a bigger picture emerges. Nigeria has a GDP per head of about $2,066. South Africans are thrice “richer” — $7,055 per head. For Egypt , it is $3,699. In contrast, the US has a GDP per capita of $63,413; China , $10,434; and Japan , $39,048.
Unfortunately, the prevalent notion that “Nigeria is rich” because of the petrodollars is one of the things holding back our ability to become rich. For one, a typical Nigerian does not want to pay cost-reflective tariffs for the commodities they consume. In all of West Africa, Ghana and Benin Republic inclusive, citizens pay for petrol and electricity at the market prices, with VAT and other taxes added on top. They do not see cheap fuel or electricity as a birth right.
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