SAM OHUABUNWA'S PARADIGM

During the week I was confused, then depressed and then elated thankfully.This changing moods of mine were caused by the three key Public officers listed above. First was the coordinating minister for the economy and the minister of finance, Dr Ngozi Okonjo Iweala who made a brilliant presentation of the details of the 2014 budget proposals, but ended up confusing me. She tried to explain or will I say justify the fact that Recurrent expenditure will consume 74% of the National Budget( the highest ever to my knowledge), leaving a paltry 26% or so for Capital expenditure. For me,this is a touchy issue and on which I have spoken about on many occasions and in many fora.In my book- Nigeria @50: Time for the evolution of a New Nation published in 2010, I drew copious attention to this phenomenon and its debilitating effect on national development and made several suggestions on how to tame this tiger that is consuming all the new borns and leaving the land ' infantile'.At our de...

After the Christmas and New Year festivities, many business owners have returned to base to face the uncertainties of the new year. For many, 2013 was a tough year, and most therefore will wish that 2014 will be a much better year. Entrepreneurial success any where is affected by what I call Extrinsic and Intrinsic factors. The extrinsic factors determine what we generally call the operating environment . And these factors are largely created by the governments at the three tiers of Government, with the federal government being the major contributor to determining these factors. Usually these policies, programs and projects are captured through the annual budgets, hence most entrepreneurs wait with a lot of anxiety, the passage of the annual budgets. And when they come late as they will this year, the level of apprehension escalates. What is more, most entrepreneurs will have little or no hand in determining these policies, except, if they belong to the business membership organisati...

In the last two weeks, I have dedicated this column to focusing on the positive developments in the Nigerian Nation. I have done so because of my belief that the media and most commentators seem to focus a lot on our shortcomings and negative developments and end up inadvertently painting an unbalanced picture of our Nation and it's struggles. In deed, many first time visitors to Nigeria are shocked to see the orderliness in Lagos and the beauty of Abuja, because all they read in our media is bad news and negative portrayal of events in the Country. Besides, we needed to cheer ourselves up and count our blessings especially in line with the spirit of Christmas.Nevertheless,Nigeria is work in progress and no effort should be spared to recover lost grounds and attain our Vision 2020. We thank God that we have survived 2013 and have entered into 2014 as a united Country. In the last couple of days in this new year, I have been busy making new year resolutions and sending good wishes ...

I am perturbed by the bells ringing across the World. So soon after the Christmas bells that heralded the commemoration of the birth of the Prince of Peace, war bells are ringing in increased intensity in many parts of the globe and these portend ominous signs for global peace and by logical extension for global trade and World economy. 1914 means many things to different people. The first world war started in 1914 and it was the same year, the Northern and Southern Protectorates were amalgamated into a sovereign Nation- Nigeria. Today there are arguements as to whether the amalgamation was to bring Peace or to instigate war. I have heard some people say that the amalgamation was a mistake. I do not agree,because it is clear to me that Nigeria has achieved so much in its 100 year history as a country. Would we have done better as disparate tribal enclaves or even as separate countries- Northern and Southern Nigeria?, there is nothing that lends credence to such optimistic view. For ...