DAG

Even if you were Adam Smith himself, the moment you associate with Peter, you are bound to betray your knowledge, discredit your intellectual credentials and bring to public ridicule the very institutions you once passed through. Let me lecture the Professor, because in this age of counterfeit intellectualism, particularly within Mr. Utomi's camp, one can hardly distinguish between professorships that were earned and those that appear to have been forcefully hijacked. Ever heard of a country called South Korea, Mr. Utomi? South Korea's GDP stands at approximately $1.87 trillion, compared to Nigeria's $290 billion. Its GDP per capita is $36,227, against Nigeria's $1,224. Its poverty rate, using 2021 estimates, was approximately 0.1%, compared to Nigeria's 41.8% at the same time. Electricity access in South Korea stood at 100% in 2024. Nigeria, after more than six decades of independence, was still struggling at approximately 62.5%. South Korea, by the way, is a manufacturing powerhouse, renowned for producing semiconductors and microchips, automobiles and electric vehicles, ships, electronics and telecommunications equipment, steel, chemicals and industrial machinery. Nigeria, unfortunately, remains largely notorious for importing what other nations manufacture, with counterfeiting and the appropriation of other people's genuine intellectual and industrial efforts becoming an unfortunate feature of our economic landscape. Courtesy of you know who! Now, I have taken the time to establish these facts for one fundamental reason: despite being highly industrialised, technologically advanced and economically prosperous, South Korea's currency, the WON, exchanges at approximately 1,400–1,500 units to the US dollar. Catch that? A country with an economy nearly seven times the size of Nigeria's, GDP per capita almost 30 times ours, has a currency that exchanges at approximately 1,500 units to one dollar. Because sometimes, Mr. Utomi, you argue like an illiterate. And coming from a developmental economist, that is not merely disappointing; it is rather shocking and utterly dumbfounding. A strong currency does not necessarily translate into a strong economy. SK illustrates this beautifully. Meanwhile, smaller economies with substantially lower GDP per capita and considerably less industrial sophistication, such as Jordan, have currencies that exchange at approximately $1.41 per unit, while the South Korean won exchanges for about 1,500 to the dollar. A stronger nominal exchange rate does not automatically indicate a wealthier, more productive or more developed nation. Currency denomination, purchasing power, productivity and economic sophistication are different economic measurements. Any serious economist ought to know this. However, seeing that you are so fixated on the exchange rate, almost as though your entire existence depends on it, let me educate you on what Nigeria actually needs to build a stronger economy, not merely a cosmetically stronger currency. 1. Increase domestic manufacturing and industrial capacity. 2. Expand non-oil exports.. 3. Improve electricity generation, transmission and distribution. 4. Reduce structural dependence on imports by strengthening domestic production. 5. Maintain monetary and fiscal stability. These are some of the fundamentals of sustainable economic development. And none of these five things is something Peter, your mediocre candidate, has demonstrated the capacity to achieve. Particularly when one considers that he had almost 40 years to transit from being a chronic importer to a manufacturer, yet he failed spectacularly at it. The Saturday that will be promising must already give some indication on Friday. You cannot spend decades demonstrating one economic philosophy and suddenly expect Nigerians to believe you have become the industrial Messiah because you have acquired a presidential ambition. Mr. Utomi, Shall I Begin? Good Evening Severally...