On the hullabaloo over £746m deal —by Louis Odion

I believe the original author of this post suffers poor understanding of the issues. I earlier observed an iteration of same cognitive impairment elsewhere and had instinctively waved it off as undeserving of a response, lest the barbarians assume they had achieved their sole objective — a distraction. Specifically, I refer to implicating the British steel industry in this mischievous analysis as part of a broader illiterate misconception of the British loan secured by Jagaban on the just concluded trip to Britain.

Laughably, they went as far as saying the loan Nigeria is taking will only keep jobs in the U.K. Wetin for happen before ?
So, if British steel would be used in the reconstruction of the Lagos ports, what is bad in that?
Do we have a viable steel sector now that would have competed instead with offer to provide the steel we need for that reconstruction? The answer is no. Our Ajaokuta Steel Company remains a work in progress.

There is even a parallel in our recent history. What is touted today as perhaps Buhari’s biggest legacy to Nigeria is upgraded railway system and expanded network. But it was financed solely with Chinese loans, with the terms more skewed in China’s favour. Hardware, software and even labour were all imported from China! (It has even been said that the language of the agreement was Mandarin!; that Nigerian officials signed blindly, not understanding that queer calligraphy of the Chinese!)
But the railway is running today and the hefty loan involved is being serviced by the Tinubu administration.

But one thing must be admitted though: this illiterate show on the British loan helps to satiate the atavistic cravings of a clueless opposition in Nigeria. Anything, however ludicrous, must be excavated and escalated to discredit Tinubu. Anything anti-Tinubu is good music to their itchy ears. At a time true patriots are otherwise happy that the Windsor Castle rendezvous symbolically signposts a restoration of respect for Nigeria by a key western power, these kill-joys must find something negative to say about Tinubu. Recall that just a decade ago, on the same British soil, British Prime Minister David Cameron had sensationally described Nigeria as “fantastically corrupt”.

A decade later, the same Nigeria has earned the respect and trust of the Britain under Tinubu to be entrusted with a hefty loan. So, taken together, what seems emerging is an epidemic of illiteracies. Hence, this intervention, as a civic duty to preserving the order and hygiene of the civic space.
One, the analysis attributed to BBC should, in fact, provide clarity and a clear-cut roadmap to follow the money. To start with, only an illiterate would assume that the £746m cash would be a dash! Seriously? So, you expect the British Exchequer will open their vault and cart the cash to Abuja? That will be a crime against British taxpayers.

On the contrary, the loan will have a multiplier effect on Nigerian economy. By channeling it into modernising the ports, it will help the infrastructure and ensure more efficiency. A more functional architecture will mean cutting down on demurrage by importers at our ports. This adds to the ease of doing business in Nigeria. If anyone should fear, it has to be that colony of “wharf rats” and their enablers gnawing at inventories stored in the waiting bays. A more functional port system will starve them of nourishment.
But the illiterates don’t understand. That is why they are reading the books upside down.