(Outdo one another in deeds of greatness)
Many people want to make the world a better place but do not know how. Even Elon Musk pledged to donate $6billion if any group shows how to end world hunger. Yet, no group made a clear template to end world hunger, because no centralized government or charity group can impartially care for all without liberating the productivity of the families and communities from which the individuals come, and who are the primary custodians of the individuals’ life, liberty and rights.
THE ELUSIVE PROMISE OF INDUSTRIALIZATION IN NIGERIA/AFRICA
At the 2023 presidential campaign, the popular candidate, Peter Obi, launched a slogan “from consumption to production.” This slogan highlights the campaign promise of industrialization in every presidential campaign since 1980. But what always follows is a monopoly-grip on basic products and import-licenses for the ruling class and their friends, instead of innovative steps from peoples’ industrial contests. Despite the good intentions of the public officials, these promises fail because of the lack of stable industrial contests that come from private property rights. For when a rotational government has centralized power to take or give people’s lands and resources to another entity (foreign or local), there will never be stability nor a level-playing ground for people to think long-term, invest, innovate and outdo one another in industrial ventures.
MODEL FOR CREATING A FREE CULTURE OF INDUSTRIALIZATION
The best civil and nonviolent way to create and sustain a new culture or practice is to create a level-playing field and program to evaluate and reward the desired culture. One of such came when President Theodore Roosevelt sought to free Americans from the monopolies of Cornelius Vanderbilt, J. P. Morgan, Andrew Carnegie and John D. Rockefeller. By 1896, these 4 men had built America into the most industrialized nation on earth. J. P. Morgan generated America’s electricity, John Rockefeller refined kerosene, Andrew Carnegie forged steel for bridges, cities, vehicles and machines; and Vanderbilt built railroads to connect American cities. With monopoly grip of these industries, these men amassed wealth to control the nation, buy up the politicians and subdue upcoming competitors in various industries. At that time, about 90% of Americans were so poor and industrially frustrated, while the monopolies kept accumulating capital and hijacking all industries.
During presidential election, a pro-people candidate, William J. Bryan, came with the promise to break up these monopolies for ordinary citizens to have a surviving chance. In response, the monopolists sponsored a candidate, William McKinley, to win and protect their monopolies. By the end of McKinley’s first term and preparation for his re-election to a second term, Theodore Roosevelt rose with his revolutionary personality. So, the monopolists tried to cage him by nominating him as vice president under William McKinley. Yet before the second term inauguration, President McKinley was shot by a worker who lost his job in a factory that J.P. Morgan had hijacked. So, the radical Theodore Roosevelt was sworn in as president. On taking office, he launched and won the biggest anti-trust suit in America’s history against J. P. Morgan, and went on with more anti-trust suits to dismantle the monopolies and their overcentralized industries into many corporate entities. It raised the spirit of industrial competitions, liberated Americans from the monopolies, inspired investors for various initiatives and enabled ordinary Americans to compete in various industrial exhibitions, and to prosper in global trade.
NECESSITY OF POLICIES AND PERIODIC COMPETITIONS FOR STABLE GROWTH
Since the goal of great societies is to enable everyone to grow and manifest their potentials for the society, these societies need laws and programs to inspire not just people’s productivity, but also their role for harmonious growth, otherwise rich societies will collapse from crimes and unrests when few people prosper while others suffer. So, in addition to establishing private property rights, a stable and prosperous society requires competitive programs to inspire not only industrial growth, but also social responsibility and level-playing field against government-backed monopoly or oligarchy. For without laws and programs to inspire harmonious growth in their nation, people easily become oppressive or pursue deals that sabotage other people in their nation’s socio-industrial network. The sabotage could include depriving vital resources, industrial support and opportunities to their fellow countrymen while supplying to foreigners or colonialists, who may pay more.
FOUNDATIONAL OBSTACLE TO INDUSTRIALIZATION IN NIGERIA/AFRICA
Governments in Sub-Saharan Africa were created to uphold the colonial land-expropriation law that blocks Africans from owning and using their resources to run industries that can compete for raw materials and markets with colonial industries. In return for exploiting these resources, former colonialists pay the postcolonial governments to buy and share foreign goods, services and amenities to the people. And since the land law blocks them from owning and using their resources for primary manufacturing industries, Africans have to compete for government licenses to import, distribute or install foreign products, services and programs. With this centralized economic system, only few people get license and access to funds to import, distribute or install foreign products and services, instead of funds for using their resources for the primary manufacturing ventures that industrializes a society, which are based on metals, chemicals/fuels, glass and rocks.
NECESSITY of PRIVATE PROPERTY RIGHTS for INDUSTRIALIZATION in NIGERIA/AFRICA
To replace the colonially-infused culture of dependence on foreign products with culture of responsible productivity, Africans need to establish private property rights for individuals and communities to regain ownership and control of their lands and resources from postcolonial governments. For when people take ownership and control of their lands and resources, they can then get sufficient loans, equipment and (local/global) partnerships for industries to produce what they can from their resources. And when people focus to specialize and trade their products and services, then they can rise to afford products and services of other people in the society. So the all-round growth in products and services in their communities and nations creates the harmonious growth that characterizes developed societies.
NEED for SOCIO-INDUSTRIAL CONTESTS to guide PRIVATE PROPERTY RIGHTS to STABLE GROWTH in Nigeria/Africa
Yet without laws, tariffs and exhibitions to inspire people to use their resources to produce things locally, many people whose lands contain the major resources may seek easy money by selling the resources to foreigners, instead of learning to use or selling to fellow Africans for local industrialization and prosperity. And flaunting the foreign products, lifestyle or money from their resources while others struggle will revive the resource-curse of fighting for resource-money. So, to replace their foreign dependence and resource-curse with stable and harmonious prosperity, Africans need to (1) establish private property rights, (2) make policies to protect local industries’ access to resources and markets till they mature, and (3) establish periodic socio-industrial contests for various communities, districts and states to compete on the productivity they can create or sustain. While the industrial contest measures their ability to use natural resources to make quality products and services, the social contest measures people’s support for one another in a community, state or nation.
CULTURAL DESTINY CONTEST as the SOCIO-INDUSTRIAL CONTEST for NIGERIAN/AFRICAN LIBERATION and PROSPERITY
With the need of socio-industrial contest for Nigerian and African prosperity, Cultural Destiny Contest becomes vital. Cultural destiny is the infinite contest between various communities, states and nations in manifesting their greatness or contribution to world progress. This greatness is measured by the responsible productivity (as products, services, groomed environment and depicted ways of life) between various communities in a district, districts in a state, and states in a nation, even between nations in a continent or region. Steps to establish cultural destiny contest include:
- Tour of liberty: few weeks’ drive through all the senatorial districts in a country for people of all the communities in each district to exhibit their socio-industrial potentials in a chosen location in their district. This will awaken people to the need to retrieve full ownership of their lands and resources to grow their socio-industrial capacity and security, and also ignite their competitive energies to industrially outdo their neighbouring communities, districts and states, even other nations.
- Intra-district conference: for delegates of various communities in a senatorial district to discuss and agree on their ideals for the tripod stand of freedom (mainly the cultural destiny contest), and to choose a delegate to represent them in the National Conference to establish the private property rights and cultural destiny contest.
- Restart national conference: for delegates of the various senatorial districts to agree and ratify the policy for the tripod stand of freedom and prosperous nationhood.
@NOIweala, @Obyezeks, @PeterObi
