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Worries over Nigeria\'s fledgling democracy
IPN Opinion article
Nigerians in a matter of days will file out to cast their votes in series of elections into federal, state and local government elective posts. This will be the second election after the military relinquished power on May 29,1999 having held sway for over 15 years. Those were the years many Nigerians would not like to forget easily. Lots of people were killed, jailed in phantom coup plots, the press was repressed, flagrant abuse of human rights became rampart and lies and falsehood became the official policy. The institutions that make a society rich and prosperous were decimated, abused or destroyed.
How Markets Benefit the Poor
IPN Opinion article
The growth rate in free economies across the world is a lesson for a country like Nigeria. When the government keeps intervening in the economy, the market is constantly blamed for any crisis that may later ensue. In actual fact, the reason for market failure should be attributed to government intervention and consequent economic distortions. Government subsidies are one such distortion. Government subsidies are a disincentive to public enterprises. Subsidies have made them less efficient and innovative, and have made them an avenue for enriching government cronies and lackeys. They have destroyed competition, which, in turn, is largely responsible for the inability of local industries to compete in the quickly globalizing world.
