In their formative stages, the English, American and Chinese economies were highly protectionist. America was known as the most protectionist of the western nations during the century when it emerged from a second-rate economy to become the largest in history.

The Chinese economy – the world’s second largest – remains a den of protection. If this is the way of the most successful nations, we should do as they did but not do as they say we should do.

The industries and manufacturing activities essential to our national maturation and development, we must protect. This may not be textbook economics. But we do not reside in textbooks and neither do our challenges. This is the way of the real world. We would be wise to adhere to it.

Thus, we must identify those industries strategic to the nation we seek to build and provide incentives such as tax relief and help in the form of effective tariffs to insulate them, allowing them to grow in productivity and competitiveness in a conducive atmosphere.

The important thing is that we grow our industrial base so that we lessen our import dependence and provide jobs for a growing urban population.

One of the critical paths to Nigeria’s economic liberation lies with employment for the youth. The nation’s economic engineers should focus primarily on allocating value and opportunity to our under-utilised labour force and our idle, yet potentially productive capital in ways promoting wealth creation and expansion of aggregate demand.

And we should do this without bending to the wishes of the IMF, WTO and the league of global money masters who would keep us low.

It is sustained aggregate demand that empowers the nation to rescue itself from the whirlpool of economic contraction.

I must add a thought about the fuel subsidy. It was once a good idea that has been perverted into its opposite. Created to aid the common man, it is now a device used by the crooked to produce a windfall for which they are not entitled.

In a perfect world, I wish we could sanitize the subsidy regime and thus continue it.

However, I have reached the conclusion that there are too many demons in the system for this hell to be converted into good earth let alone heaven.

Better that we remove it, not for the austere purpose of saving money but to use the money more wisely that we might aid then very poor people. Better to spend the money to save the people instead of expend the people to save the money.