Technical Recession or Actual Recession; My Take!

This Government is becoming notorious for it's proclivity for technicalities...
First, it was last year ending when the President informed the whole world that Nigeria had technically defeated the scourge of Boko Haram.
Then, just a few weeks back, the Finance Minister, Kemi Adeosun confirmed what we already feared about the Nigerian Economy; according to her, the Nigerian Economy was technically in a recession.
Well, it's not news anymore; we feared it would get to this point but what still startles me is her failure to admit the obvious reality that is starring at us.
Why go through the stress of telling us that we are technically in a recession when every key indicator points to the fact that we have been experiencing a full blown recession since the turn of the year.
Well, enough of my rants; the question is, now that we are in this mess together, how do we get out of it as soon as possible before our economy slides into a depression ?
First, let me explain economic recession from a layman's perspective; A recession is simply a period of stagnant economic growth, that is, when things are not moving forward; when people are suffering more; when the value of the local currency is on a downward spiral.
Now, with this explanation, the next question is How Did We Get To This Point?
The answer is simple; we failed to build in a time of abundance!
There was a time when a barrel of oil which happens to be Nigeria's chief foreign exchange earner was sold for over $100 per barrel; there was a time when our oil pipelines were not under perpetual attack from vandals abi "freedom fighters".
Today, a barrel of crude oil sells for probably less than $50, and our pipelines from communities in Delta State to Ogun, and even Lagos State are only running at the mercy of Niger Delta Militants or "Freedom Fighters " (whichever way you see them).
The question every rational person should ask himself is, what did we do with all we earned in the time of abundance?
Did we save for the rainy day?
Well, let me not stretch your imagination; we wasted all we earned; public office became so attractive that even budding small scale business owners left their businesses just to become Personal Assistants and Protocol officers to anybody who occupied any public office, whatsoever.
We are suffering from the failure of successive Governments to pay greater attention to Agriculture and food production and security.
We are suffering from the failure of successive Governments to empower Small and Medium scale Enterprises.
We are suffering from the consequences of years of extravagance and sickening official corruption in Nigeria.
Okay; enough of the blame game!
WHAT IS THE WAY FORWARD?
1. The first thing we must do as a country to get out of this recession as soon as possible is to reduce dependence on income from crude oil.
We must diversify the Nigerian economy and have alternative sources of revenue so that we will not continue to live at the mercy of the uncertainties of the International oil market.
There was once a time in Nigeria when there was little or nothing in terms of income from crude oil but that was the era when we made our greatest progress as a Nation.
This was the time when Agriculture was the livewire of the economy.
Today, only a few bold people are interested in Agriculture.
My take is that Government should encourage Farming among the people and the Government must also invest heavily in Agriculture to reap the benefits inherent in the venture.
By making concerted efforts towards attaining food security, the amount of money spent on importation of food items like Rice will be greatly reduced, and after we must have attained food sufficiency, we can then start to export, and in the process, we will earn more from sources other than Crude oil.
So, my advice to the Government is that they should continue sincerely in their efforts to diversify the economy, as this is the most plausible way out of the quagmire imposed upon us by our failure to save in the time of abundance.
2. In addition, the Government must create a conducive atmosphere for ease of doing business in Nigeria.
Frankly, Nigeria is one of the worst places to do business in the world because of the very glaring problems, prominent among which is the erratic power supply all over the country.
Nigerians find doing business in Nigeria unconducive; foreign investors find doing business in Nigeria, repulsive!
The truth is that if we are to grow as an economy, we must find ways of making the idea of doing business in Nigeria attractive to not just Nigerians but to willing foreigners as well.
Whilst it might take a while for the issue of the erratic power supply in Nigeria to be fixed, there are other things the Government can do to attract investors to Nigeria.
The Government can grant tax holidays to business, thereby encouraging more Nigerians and foreigners to invest in the country.
Investors are always more willing to work in Environments where the tax regime is more flexible than rigid; in places where the Tax regime is friendly.
Simply put, the Government should develop a tax system that is more friendly to investors, and that way, Nigeria will once again, become the hub of business in Africa, and as well, derive it's attendant benefits of creating more employment opportunities for the populace, and contributing to an all round progressive economy.
3. The last suggestion I have for a better economy is on the need for Government and citizens alike to cultivate a culture of gross national contentment.
This can be summarized as "Buy Naija to grow Naija".
We must discourage and reduce capital flight in Nigeria by patronizing as many made in Nigeria goods as possible.
Why should we be paying as much as 16,000 Naira for a bag of rice which has stayed for probably 10 years in a Taiwanese or Indonesian Store house when we can buy a bag of Abakaliki rice for less than 8,000 Naira?
It makes more sense whichever way we look at it if we start to patronize made in Nigeria goods, rather than feed the economies of other countries while we impoverish ourselves.
Nigerian made goods might not be perfect but we must see their patronage as a necessary sacrifice which we must make in order to escape the impending economic doom that faces us.
To this end, Government must play a leading role; foreign rice must be banned in Nigeria, and the ban must be strictly enforced by the relevant agencies; Government officials should publicly display their Nigerian made clothes and shoes to encourage the populace; Local Rice should be served at Government functions to assure the people of their commitment to growing made in Nigeria goods.
We can turn this around for our good!
Nigeria can become great again!
Our Economy can boom again but we must apply some of these practical suggestions, and many more to indicate our intent to tackle and overcome what has been referred to as the most trying moment of our economy since independence.
God bless Nigeria!