Economic consequences of being a beggar nation

By Dele Sobowale

When late Lee Kwan Yew,  Singapore’s transformational Prime Minister announced early in the life of that tiny nation that: “The world does not owe us a living. We cannot live by the begging bowl” (From Third World To First in a Generation, p 53), he already had a vision of a self-reliant nation; despite its small land mass and population, as well as total absence of natural resources.   

 No nation on Earth can threaten to reduce or withhold aid to Singapore; because the country does not need it. By contrast, the Giant of Africa routinely finds itself going, cap in hand, to beg for alms and receiving the insults associated with being an almajiri nation.

  The latest threat to reduce aid follows other reductions in assistance to Nigeria and other beggar-nations, mostly in Africa, under the Trump administration. President Trump’s contempt for black people in general and Africans in particular is not even disguised. We are literally eating crumbs from our enemy’s table. So far, there is no response from the Federal Government, FG. None is expected; for some obvious reasons.

Inferiority complex and slave mentality

“No one can make you feel inferior without your consent” – US First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt, 1884-1962.

  The truth is: when African leaders go on state visits to advanced countries, they first go begging and they go to receive instructions coded as advice. To begin with, the visit is regarded as a favour granted to the African Head of State. An opportunity to dine in the White House or with the King of England makes headlines for weeks; while forgetting that the King of England is not the Head of Government.. Inferiority is written all over their gestures; the overwhelming desire to please and to be accepted as worthy of the invitation. The Prime Minister of Singapore, who seldom travels out of his country, is received as an equal partner; he brings no bowls. For that matter, he does not travel with a 200 man entourage to visit King Charles. The Prime Minister of Singapore knows how to spend his country’s money. At any rate, a real parliament, unlike our bogus National Assembly, NASS, will not allow him to carry so much worthless “excess luggage” with him to London to buttress the delusion of grandeur implied.

Our over-weaning desire to please our hosts is frequently “rewarded” with three types of concessions – Memorandum of Understanding, MOU, a loan or a grant. None of these trophies, to which our leaders cling like winners of the Champion’s League, are ever truly altruistic. The office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, SGF, is full of MOUs which have yielded nothing. MOUs are statements of intentions which are not mutually binding. At best they allow the visitor to proclaim an expensive diplomatic jamboree as a successful state visit.

Loans constitute a different sort of insult to the borrower. The recent loan agreement with Britain, signed by President Tinubu, represents standard operating procedure when a beggar nation comes with a bowl in hand. Modernising an old port complex invariably requires procurement of several items not produced in the country.

Ordinarily, the debtor should do his homework; and be free to ask for bids from various possible contractors. Where monumental projects are involved, the list of possible contractors is frequently a short one. Only a few companies have acquired the expertise to build airports, sea ports, entire railway lines or refineries. Still, a debtor, whose hands are not tied, would usually shortlist at least two for consideration before deciding. But, in a situation in which the loan-giver also determines the preferred contractor, the debtor is doubly handicapped. Let me again provide an example from my experience in the US working as a salesman for a major plumbing installation company based in California; attached to the Washington DC office – the seat of the American government. Our assignment consisted of getting the US Government financing any major project in Africa and the Caribbean Islands to include our products and services as part of the total package. The other aspect of the work entailed convincing the representatives of the countries in Washington and the UNO to help persuade the home country to accept the package. Once accepted, our company got more than the initial contract; but, repairs and maintenance sub-contracts plus supply of spare parts for ten years or more. Invariably, the total cost, to the country, of the sub-contract exceeds 150 per cent of the original contract. We would have sold spare parts in 1970 that would not be manufactured until 1985. Technologically-backward nations like Nigeria fall repeatedly for this sucker punch virtually all the time.  

Several aid projects, such as those the US is now threatening to freeze are also not totally free of American national interest. The COVID-19 vaccines sent to us at the height of the pandemic were manufactured mostly by US-based pharmaceutical companies. The approval in the first instance was rushed and there was widespread apprehension in the US that unknown side-effects might develop. There was an urgent need to obtain human guinea pigs to try them. What was offered to us “free”, was in reality, what we should have been paid to take the risk of trying them. Experimenting with our lives was also cynically classified as “AID” – for which we were expected to demonstrate deep gratitude. As it turned out COVID-19 was not a tropical zone disease. The virus can’t stand high temperatures; such as those prevalent in sub-Sahara. We were duped.

Way forward

“Advice is seldom welcome; and those who need it the most always want it the least” – Earl of Chesterfield, 1694-1773, VANGUARD BOOK OF QUOTATIONS, VBQ p 5.

Nigeria will continue to be a beggar nation as long as governments and private individuals engage in ostentatious lifestyles. During my ten years in the US, I was privileged to visit three of the richest Americans in the 1970s. None of them had more than three cars in their garages; none drove a Rolls Royce despite being able to afford them. Instead, they all invested their vast fortunes in enterprises in America. One had only four suits. He would rent tuxedos when occasion called for it. Many of our wealthy men and leading politicians operate fleets of cars which would make a car dealer envious.  

Waste occurs at the lowest level also. Yoruba people lead the rest in fashion parade. I live on Lagos Island by choice. Parents who reluctantly pay their kids’ school fees would readily find the funds to buy the uniforms called Aso Ebi. Even upper class Americans don’t buy as many new clothes as poor Yoruba people every year. Trillions of naira of our commonwealth are wasted every year on frivolities; which if properly harnessed can remove the begging bowl from our hands.  

We should start by voluntarily exiting from some aid programmes. Rotary International, RI, founded by Paul Harris,   spent over $3 billion to eradicate polio globally. Nigeria was among the last three nations to be free because some states refused a free offer. Today, ebola is raging; we can handle it ourselves; but, we won’t. We are waiting for aid; after allowing the epidemic to spread. Yet, it is axiomatic that health is wealth.

One day, the donors will cut off supplies; and the cycle is repeated. How long?

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