Nigeria
Nigeria: Agricultural financing in the face of global economic meltdown
By Eko John Nicholas
ekonicholas@yahoo.com
If there is any seeming beneficial aspect of the current global economic crunch to a petro-dollar economy country like Nigeria, it is that it has again rekindled interests in agriculture.
Recently, there has been hubbub of voices within government circle and the private sectors about the needs to diversify the economy from petroleum, which currently accounts for over 95 per cent of our foreign exchange earnings to agriculture.
This latest sing song about economic diversities is not new in Nigeria or elsewhere around the world. The capitalist ruling elite at every historical period, when capitalism has been severely threatened by the logic of the system due to unresolved contradictions, have had cause to seek relieves in other sectors of the economy as safe haven for capitalists to guarantee continuous ruthless exploitations of both human and natural resources.
This was the kernel of the relocation of companies by investors from Western Europe and United States of America, before the current global economic meltdown, due to increasing threats by workers for wage increments and better working conditions, to Asia China, Eastern Europe etc, where there are cheap labours.
This was due to ruthless attacks by the ruling elites of these regions on worker’s rights, leading to weak industrial unions, with complete disregard for labour laws. Hence, there is low cost of production in China and its resultant cheap Chinese products.
The same profit motive also explains the recent announcement by President Barack Obama of the United State of America that in the coming period emphasis will be on renewable green energy.
The US confronted with the frequent volatility in the Middle East, which disrupt regular supply of oil from the gulf nations and the militant activities in the oil rich Niger Delta region of Nigeria is seeking refuge in renewable green...
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