Sale of national assets: To be or not to be?

THE Federal Government of Nigeria in a bid to push back the pain of recession is on a tragic trajectory in the ongoing debate about whether or not to sell some of our national assets such as NLNG, NNPC, Federal estates, such as the National Arts Theatre, Federal Secretariat, Ikoyi and the refineries. The proposed plan is to auction off all or some of these national jewels in order to stem the hemorrhaging condition of our disfigured economy that had gone pear-shaped because of recession.

The National Economic Council, chaired by the Vice-President and made up of the Governors of the 36 States and the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, had last week resolved that some of the country’s assets be sold to tackle the present economic recession.

The flesh-and-blood distillation of Nigeria’s economic climate has cast a kind of reflective pall so much that any way out, no matter how bizarre and outlandish, is welcomed by a government that had lost its way. To stem the tide of criticisms that may greet such a move, the government has released its own soothing legal language that is redolent of scant commonsense. In its own reasoning, the government gives some conditions for the sale of the assets.

The conditions include: inserting a repurchasing clause in the assets sales agreements and no outright sale of the yet unnamed assets. A Presidency source said: “The Federal Government has no plan to sell off its shares outright in the NLNG, where it owns 49% shares. The balance of 51% is owned by private foreign interests. The Federal Government doesn’t own the entire gas company and will certainly not sell off its entire shares, but it’s open to the possibility of selling down its 49% ownership by 5% or thereabouts.” On the repurchase clause, he said: “Just as in other potential asset sales, there would be a repurchase option that guarantees the Federal Government’s opportunity to buy back any such assets if circumstances change anytime in the future.

Some of the intended sales could be in form of time-bound leases, advance renewal payments on leasing licences and concessioning which would attract buoyant signature fees. If we even want to sell down certain assets, while our target is to get foreign currency, specifically dollars, the option would also be opened to Nigerians at some point to buy limited shares through the Nigeria Stock Exchange.”

Such propositions, we dare say, are from the bottomless pit of hell. The proponents of sale, like the Central Bank of Nigeria, (CBN), Aliko Dangote, Senate President, Bukola Saraki, Emir of Kano, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, MTN, etc argued forcefully that the sale of our national assets will yield between N10-40 billion which will go a long way to ameliorating our fiscal problems.

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First, there may be doubtful gain in the short run. But, in the long run, after the sum of N10-40b has been squandered on only God knows what, the future of the country would be blighted and future generations of Nigerians would laugh on the wrong side of their collective mouth. The sale of our national assets would mean that monies derived therefrom would be used to finance short-term problems at the expense of long-term projects. This, in banking parlance, would be a mismatch of funds which, an abomination to all economists.

Secondly, if the sale of our national assets is ever undertaken, the ready buyers will be this nation’s moneybags who constitute, no more than 1% of Nigeria’s teeming population and it is this 1% that is encouraging the illegal sale of our national assets ostensibly because of a recession which may not last longer than 18 months at most. The antagonists of the sale of national assets ask the proponents thereof what happens to the sold national assets such as NLNG, a cash cow, when the recession is over.

Meanwhile, organized labour is mobilizing to confront the Federal Government over its decision to sell some national assets which had before now sustained the nation’s economy.

Also, the National Union of Textile, Garment and Tailoring Workers of Nigeria, NUTGTWN, has cautioned President Muhammadu Buhari against the planned sale of the assets. Fortunately, the Senate has also told the Federal Government that no asset of Nigeria should be sold in the bid to tackle the economic recession facing the country. Not a few Nigerians believe that after selling the nation’s assets, the Buhari administration might think of selling some Nigerians to ease the recession!

The nexus of dark politics and foolish economic palliatives are driving Nigeria towards a harrowing chasm. Selling national assets is a grey and hazardous area for President Muhammadu Buhari to even dare. The proposition of the sale of our national assets is not only myopic but grossly unpatriotic. It is unfortunate that the Senate President, Bukola Saraki and his friend, Emir of Kano, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, are both in the forefront of this suggestion. The idea is foolish, whether it entails repurchase clause in the sale agreements or not. We must not drink the hemlock of national assets sale greedily or else we would live behind a murderous betrayal of trust for unborn Nigerians. Selling national assets for short-term gain will remain a standing reproach to this or any government.