Going by the quality of education and the level of success in the personal careers of past leaders of the Central Bank of Nigeria (See the list of CBN leaders in part one of this article) it can be said without any doubt that the Central Bank has been led by those who are among Nigeria’s best.

However, in their public service as CBN leaders,  they have collectively overseen the devaluation of the Naira from about 0.87 to the dollar to over N 1,000 to the dollar today. That’s over 1,000-fold devaluation in forty years.

Some commentators accuse them of mismanaging the monetary policy. This argument though tenable, raises very fundamental questions.

If the policies proffered by the best, we have can only mismanage then are we saying the best we have are not good enough? Does this mean that Nigerians are unable to self-govern? Does Nigeria need to import central Bank Governors to succeed?

Such notions would probably sound very attractive to our colonial masters of yesteryears, however, the successes of these men and women in their private careers negate such arguments. In their private vocations, they have shown that Nigerians can build globally competitive institutions. There is no doubt about this.

Perhaps we need a new paradigm.

In a mathematical equation, variables change, but the constant remains the same. This constant is the factor that helps solve the equation. In Nigeria, the Central Bank Governors have changed as variables change in an equation.

Their policies and outputs too have changed as variables, and the political order has changed, from the military, command structure to civilian-federated structures with different policies, and so on. Political parties too have changed. And yet they achieved almost the same or largely similar results.

Everything has changed, almost…….but… one thing has stayed the same, like the constant in a mathematical equation. Perhaps our biggest problem to be solved is this constant… What is this constant?

Since independence, the Nigerian culture, mindset, and value system have placed a premium on that which is foreign over that which is local. That was how it came to be said that “ every mistake in London is a style in Nigeria…”

Nigeria has been uniquely tied to foreign goods, services, and mindsets. There is something about the Nigerian psyche that just loves it foreign. The resultant effect of this mindset is that for every monetary or fiscal policy aimed at strengthening the local currency or economy, there are tens or hundreds of millions of citizens betting against the policy.

We – the citizens, and our value systems- are the constant. We the citizenry, and our attitude towards that which is local. We have not changed from generation to generation, despite changes in Central Bank Governors, policymakers, leaders, and political systems.  Somehow, we are demanding for the policymakers to change the trajectory of the currency, while we hold onto our attitudes that foreign is better.

We the people have made it such that, changing the policies do not achieve the intended results because the policymakers do not factor in the culture, value systems, mindsets, and attitudes of the citizenry.  As long as we continue to bet against ourselves, we will hand a resounding loss to policymakers, and not just to them but to ourselves too. Also, we will continue to hand a resounding victory to that which is foreign. And we will continue to shame our best minds- whose policies will seem to fail.

For this to change, the current and future managers of the nation need to make it their biggest investment to change orientation of the citizenry.

Programs that help Nigerians have a rethink at all levels are by far the most important needs, far more important than even infrastructure spend. As this reorientation takes route, that which is local will emerge to the forefront and that which is foreign will become a minority. Thus, fiscal and monetary policies will see the intended impact, a key one being the stability and strengthening of the local currency.

See part one of the article