For The Records, Especially For Those Born After 80’s.
NIGERIA SITUATION: ONE STEP FORWARD, FOUR STEPS BACKWARDS!
How Are The Mighty Fallen?
As Otu Obiahu Saw It!
AJM NEWS!
I was telling my neighbor some couple of weeks ago that Nigerians enjoyed life and other social amenities in the 80’s and early 90’s, unlike the hard times we’re experiencing now.
Instead of improving on the amenities that made our lives better, we left them to become progressively worse, which invariably worsened our condition of living in Nigeria.
Yes, it’s true! Though the younger generation may not understand this!
But The Fact Remains That We Were Far More Productive In 1980 Than
We Are Today!
In 1980 The key Metric Are
As Follows:
1) We were a net exporter of refined petroleum products. Today we import all our refined petroleum products.
2) We ride in locally assembled cars, buses and trucks. Peugeot cars in
Kaduna and Volkswagen cars in Lagos. Leyland in Ibadan and ANAMCO in Enugu produce our buses and trucks. Steyr at Bauchi
producing our Agricultural tractors. And it is not just Automobile Assembly, we were producing many of the components. Vono products in Lagos producing the seats. Exide
Batteries in Ibadan producing the batteries, not just for Nigeria but for the entire West Africa.
Isoglass and TSG in Ibadan producing the windshields. Ferodo in Ibadan producing the brake pads and disc. Tyres produced by Dunlop in Lagos and Mitchellin in Portharcourt. And I mean tyres produced from rubber plantations located in Rivers State.
3) We were listening to Radio and watching television sets assembled in Ibadan by Sanyo.
4) We were using refrigerators, freezers and Air conditioners produced by Thermocool.
5) We were wearing clothes produced from the UNTL textile mills in Kaduna and Chellarams in Lagos. Not from imported cotton but from cotton grown in Nigeria.
6) Our water was running through pipes produced by Kwalipipe in Kano.
7) Our toilets were fitted with WC produced at Kano and Abeokuta.
8) We were cooking with LPG gas stored inside gas cylinders produced at the NGC factory in Ibadan.
9) Our electricity was flowing through cables produced by the Nigerian wire and Cable, Ibadan
and Kablemetal in Lagos
and Portharcourt.
10) We had Bata and Lennards producing the shoes we were wearing. Not from imported leathers but from locally tanned leather at Kaduna.
11) We built our houses with quality cement produced at NIGERCEM Nkalagu, now in Ebonyi State, with the limestone from Nkalagu. NIGERCEM supplied more than enough cement to Nigeria and beyond.
12) AVOP Vegetable Oil in Udi now in Enugu State was the best vegetable oil produced locally with plants grown in Nigeria.
13) We were mainly flying our airways, the Nigeria Airways, to most places in the world. The Airways was about the biggest in Africa at that time.
14) Our trains and Railway Stations were in full operation, safer and cheaper for those who love travelling or conveying their goods by train.
Most of the trains were powered by coals drilled from the coal mine at Onyema Hill/Valley in Enugu.
The same coal gave us the electricity we used before the monopoly by NEPA.
15) Most of the food we eat were being grown or produced in Nigeria.
We were producing all of the above and more in 1980.
Today, we import almost everything. There lies the source of the terrible exchange rate we are experiencing today and everybody on this platform has a critical role to play in reversing the ugly trend.
It is not enough for us to complain about the exchange rate or bring out what others are not doing or are failing to do, the key question is what are you producing or what are you planning to produce?
Truly, we need to go back to the good old days!
Rev.Pastor OTU OBIAHU Is The Media Director Of Afikpo Jokwa Media/ AJM NEWS
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