By Bankole Shakirudeen Adeshina
The financialisation of national, family, and individual assets, intellectual properties, and the strategic investment in human capital development and utilisation, have been identified as the new energy fueling global wealth and prosperity.
At the 60th Public Lecture of the Nigerian Institute of Management (Charter) held at Idowu Taylor, Victoria Island, Lagos recently, economic experts, under the auspices of professional bodies, such as the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI), Institute of Chartered Accountant of Nigeria (ICAN), Nigeria Institute of Marketing of Nigeria (NIMN), Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria (CIBN), Chartered Institute of Personnel Management (CIPM), among others, canvassed for a redirection of the nation’s focus, on solving widespread poverty and dangerous external borrowings.
Themed, “Celebrating 60 Years of Management Excellence: Poised for more,” the event was declared open by the President and Chairman in Council of NIM, Mrs. Pat E. Anabor, and the institute’s Chairman, 60th Anniversary Committee, Dr. Michael Olawale-Cole, CON, MFR, with emphasis on the foremost organisation’s giant strides and painstaking entrenchment of best management practices culture in the governing of the affairs and resources of the country.
The Guest Lecturer, Dr. Ayo Teriba, an economic scholar and the Chief Executive Officer, Economic Associate, said as part of the need for NIM, or any other professional bodies, to forging ahead and thrive amidst the dynamic opportunities and challenges of today’s time, it must invest more in innovation, collaborate regionally, internationally for growth, and be seen as earlier adopter to working and result-driven economic trends and innovations.
Substantiating his conviction, Teriba, submitted that in spite of the ravaging effects of the Corona Virus pandemic, rising international conflicts and poverty, Global Investments, have continued to experience boom, surpassing Global Trading with unprecedented margin of $30billion to $25billion, thereby giving an inkling of the hidden treasure called globally or national wealth and prosperity.
Ironically, the latest economic shift is being led and ferociously explored mostly by the first world countries, leaving in far distance, third world and developing countries like Nigeria, who are battling widespread poverty and economic inequality.
Nigeria is currently regarded as the World Capital of Poverty, with about 90million of its over 200million population, living below the World Bank’s projected $1 or $2 daily.
The development has also defied the age-long philosophy of manufacturing being the exclusive bedrock of global economic prosperity.
Teriba, a renowned economic juggernaut, in his admonition, said unlike in the short distant past, wealth is no longer being created on the premise of mass production and exportation, but through innovative, technology, and the weaponisation of population with competitive and solution-driven capacity building.
“Wealth creation has shifted from trading and manufacturing,” Teriba, a renowned economist, posited, explaining that, “money is now being created and made in the cloud,” through digitization of assets and technological advancement and capabilities.
He gave an example of the United Arab Emirate’s ARAMCO’s Stocks, which today represents the most expensive in the world at $2Trillion, as one of the practicable definition behind the concept of financialising national assets for the collective growth of the country and the prosperity of the citizenry.
According to him, “since the financial value of this national asset was known, the country and its people are now better for it, economically and financially.”
Relying on the same concept, in addition to the weaponising of national population for wealth creation, via talents and skills development and exportation, Teriba also projected a new world economic order, to be eminently led by the Asians and Indians.
According to him, “in the next five years, China, the current number two most economically prosperous country in the world, would beat the current title holder, the United States of America to the first slot, irreversibly; and India, currently the 6th, would find it way to the third position, in the next 10 years.
“Apart from leveraging on technology, human capital development is the next treasure. And that is seen in the continuous growth experienced in both China and Indian in the last one decade. These two countries have the biggest population in the world separately and combined, so, population is not the problem.
“Incidentally, what these countries do is as a matter of national policy, invest in their citizens, and support them to get the best education and skills there is anywhere in the world, and continue to grow. And that transcends back to the country.
“For instance, In the 70s, the Chinese and Indians would have been coming to Nigeria as needy migrants but they are now coming to establish businesses with competitive skills and talents, so much that host countries are afraid of them.
“In China, there are no top rated schools like the Ivy Leagues, but the Chinese are being supported to attend these schools, and become so knowledgeable and powerful that they are even overtaking the Americans in all spheres now. Ditto for the Indians. These are the two countries that are not afraid of foreign nationales taking their jobs away. They are even opening their boarder and migrating with skills and talents.
“Hence, we need to do more on financialising our national assets. You cant be sitting on a goldmine like NLNG and NNPC and be going to the international market to borrow as little as $1billion. It is shameful. We need to stop the borrowing and empower our people on wealth creation,” he added.
In their earlier speeches, Anabor reminisced that since its establishment in 1961 and Charter in 2003, NIM “has grown to become the foremost, largest, and biggest multi-disciplinarian management organization in Africa, it has successfully developed professional management, capacity building, human capital development capacity of the country and organisations, in partnership with local and international development partners.”
Olawale-cole, added that “the one-week long event is being observed simultaneously in the 37 zones and seven branches of the organization, and to be climaxed with a luncheon, holding Saturday,July 17, at its Management House in 22, Idowu Taylor Stree, Victoria Island, with Professor Olanrewaju Adigun Fagbohun, former Vice Chancellor of the Lagos State University as the Special Guest of Honor.”
Facilitating with NIM, Mrs. Toki Mabogunje, Chairman and President in Council, LCCI, Mr. Chuka Ebora, the 2nd Vice President, Nigeria Institute of Marketing of Nigeria, Professor Ahmed Kunse, President, Institute of Chartered Accountant of Nigeria, represented by the Deputy Registrar, Corporate Services, Mr. Mukaila, and Mrs Adebisi Adeyemi, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, DCSL Corporate Services Limited, the Moderator of the event, extoled the towering image of excellence it has built in management and corporate governance in the last six decades and pledged further collaboration and supports in its future exploits.
