Air Peace, capitalism, and national interest, By Dakuku PetersideHard hit by climate change, farmers in Nigeria’s ‘food basket’ face new foesINVESTIGATION: Beautiful infrastructure but poor staffing, lack of drugs hinder PHC services in Borno communitiesAir Peace, capitalism, and national interest, By Dakuku PetersideNigerian corporate influence and that of the West continue to collide.
Two events demonstrate an emerging trend that, if not checked, will disincentivise Nigerian firms from competing in the global marketplace.
In a price war, there is little the government can do. In an open-market competitive situation such as this, our government must not act in a manner that suggests it is antagonistic to foreign players and competitors. There must be an appearance of a level playing field. However, the government owes Air Peace protection against foreign competitors backed by their home governments. This is in the overall interest of the Nigerian consumer of goods and services.
The second is Proforce, a Nigerian-owned military hardware manufacturing firm active in Rwanda, Chad, Mali, Ghana, Niger, Burkina Faso, and South Sudan. Despite the growing capacity of Proforce in military hardware manufacturing, Nigeria entered two lopsided arrangements with two UAE firms to supply military equipment worth billions of dollars, respectively. Both deals are backed by the UAE government but executed by UAE firms.