THISDAYonline

When the story of the Olusegun Obasanjo presidency is written, the success or otherwise of his economic programme would feature prominently. While some critics might find him wanting, a majority would possibly give him a pass mark.

And in this crucial year 2002, the president would hope and work harder for nothing other than a good performance by the economy, as Nigerians move forward to another general election next year.

To Funso Lawal, an accountant and businessman, the economic performance of the administration so far is not bad and in fact, things are beginning to look up. Well, he should know. He's not just an accountant, he's a successful one, as he is chairman of many successful companies and sits on the board of several others ranging from banking to insurance and oil exploration. But more importantly, he has a hand in Obasanjo's economic policies and programmes as chairman of Corperate Forum, a group of economic think tank, drawn from the corporate world. The forum with no fever than 20 corporate bodies, including some multinationals as members, advises the president from time to time on the economic policy thrust of the administration.

Lawal says the government is on course as the seed of economic growth planted by the administration has begun to germinate. The macro economic polices are either in place or taking shape and Nigerians should begin to reap a bountiful economic harvest very soon.

The modest success so far recorded by the administration he concedes is being overshadowed by several years of economic decay the immediate past military administrations had taken the nation through, which makes some people to think the government has not done anything at all. But he says this is not true.

His upbeat assessment of the economy does not however extend to the states, as most of the state governments depend substantially if not, entirely, on their share of revenue from the Federation Account.

This, he says is wrong, The states are blessed with rich human, material and agricultural resources, which with proper planning and investment, could generate huge revenue for the state government.

In Oyo State where he comes from, for instance, Lawal says the states proximity to Lagos, Nigeria's economic capital, has not been exploited by the state government to boost the economy of the state.

"Being close to Lagos, Oyo State, particularly Ibadan, should be able to attract a lot of investment that Lagos can not contain. For instance, land is very scarce in Lagos, but this is in abundance in Oyo State, so the state government should encourage investors to come to the state and set up business instead of scrambling for the scarce land available in Lagos.

"For instance, the fastest growing business in the world today is Information Technology or IT for short. Nothing stops the state government from setting up an IT village near Ibadan on the way to Lagos, like the Silicon Valley in the United States. IT companies can be encouraged to come and set up business at the village, where computer chips and the likes, as well as other IT equipment could be manufactured". Lawal said.

Emphasising the economic importance of such a project, Lawal who is on the board of National Iron Ore Mining Company in Itakpe, Kogi State, a director of NUB International Bank Limited and Chairman Prime Trust Insurance Company, said it will not only boost the economy of Oyo State, but also launch the state and indeed Nigeria into the modern information age.

"The Silicon Valley in the US started like that. People were using their garages and gradually the business started growing and before you know it, it became a multi billion dollar business.

We can replicate the same thing here. We have the expertise," he said. Lawal should know, afterall he went to school in the US and worked there as well, when he rose to become Vice President of a bank.

Having seen and experienced the phenomenal contribution of IT to the unprecedented growth of US economy, especially in the eight years of Bill Clinton's presidency, Lawal sees a future for Nigeria's economy in Information Technology. "I had cause to discuss this issue with governor Lam Adesina of Oyo State in Abuja in 1999, when then President Bill Clinton of the United States of America came calling. I discussed the issue of having an IT Village in Oyo State with him and he was quite impressed and seemed ready to go into it. The governor was further impressed when Clinton, in his address during a meeting with government representatives and the organised private sector, as part of the visit, also spoke on the importance of IT. I was sitting beside the governor and he looked into my face, suggesting that 'you said so.' I was happy that Clinton confirmed all what I had told the governor". He said he had also sent proposals to the state government on other areas of economic activities that could improve the economy of the state, one of which is agriculture.

Coming from the rich agricultural area of Oyo State, Ogbomoso and environs, Lawal had seen his people toil day and night on their farms with little or nothing to show for it. "My area is reputed to be the food banket of the state, my people grow a lot and harvest bountifully, but some of their harvest rot away, one, because they could not get to the market on time and earn enough for their sweat and two, because of lack of preservation, these harvest rot away.

"You see we can have cottage industries near these farms where such products like orange, pineapple or guava juice, tomato puree and similar ones can be manufactured. Apart from keeping the economy growing, it would also keep the youth in the rural area, close to their family and thus prevent or minimise the exodus of people, especially the younger ones and other able bodied to the cities," he explained.

Lawal recalls with nostalgia, his days at Government College Ibadan, when the nearby Lafia Canning Factory iwas churning out fruit juice. "We enjoyed fruit juice from Lafia that time . This was an example of what we could do with our farm produce. But uregretably, Lafia Canning Factory, like most government businesses is virtually dead now," he said.

With this enormous interest in economic growth, especially of Oyo State, is Lawal planning to go into politics fully, and perhaps run for the governorship of the state in 2003? "For quite sometime now, good people, especially professionals have kept away from politics because of the perceived dirtiness involved. But for President Olusegun Obasanjo's clarion call on the younger generation, especially professionals to take interest in politics, many Nigerians of my age wouldn't be interested at all. Many things have gone wrong and I think the earlier we put them right the better. Yes I am interested in politics, mainly for the good of the people, my people, who are yearning for good leadership, good governance and good things of life. that is my interest. As for the governorship race in 2003, I leave that to time. we'll cross that bridge when we get there".