Breath of relief at last

Yesterday I was in Minna, 4 hours drive away from my campus, in a bid to solicit for funds to attend a motivational seminar in Brazil come August 2008. After the official duties, I steeled down to other pressing issues, which included most of all, trying to sort things out with "my princess". She was of course, tired out by the time I made it to her house, because she's been busy of late, organising and starting some financial advisory job. She's actually a member of the Board of Directors, and so, needed to be up and doing.

Well, I had to put up with the fact that she was tired, as I needed to be as caring as possible, even as I sometimes try to define the word CARING without getting a headway.

We had some time to talk, and of course stare at each other for long moments in which chemistry burned, then her roommates showed up. From then on, I could only relegate myself to the background and refuse the spotlight, as my spirits were already dampened by some realisations before her roommates came.

Then the time for me to leave approached, but the all were ruing the fact that I was leaving. However, we spent almost an hour together, after she offered to walk me to the road. We talked about ourselves and most importantly, why I wanted nobody but her in my life.

We had a long talk, and she finally persuaded me to take her as a friend (a very special friend), and get to know each other more. This should materialise into a strong relatiponship that will culminate in her becoming the nucleus of my empire.

I liked the idea, as it would not only help me concentrate on my studies, but also build myself to the challenge of the situation. Something I learnt from it, was that when I get a conviction, I must follow it till the end, and even if I must leave room to negotiations, it must certainly be the last resort, and to my benefit.

Now, am back in school writing this post, preparing to work on my project title, continue a project development framework, and face my courses with gusto.

Life's Backswash; Blessing's hurt

In Geography, when you study oceanography or marine science, you become familiar with such words like swash, backswash, tide and the likes. I have not really taken oceanography into much considerations as I have an interest in Tropical and advanced climatology and macro-meteorology. But the word backswash will remain in my brain - it has to, for me as an intending geographer, in the study of climate.

However, backswash would be used here in a different context.

I don't know how many of us meet someone for the first time, and we fail to reason well, until we have had time with the person, letting some flow of chemistry between you two.

I was away from school for a training on entrepreneurship, and I met this damsel. She was too articulate. You can never take away the fact that she was a beaut.

I was taken away immediately, considering the fact that for three years, I had stayed away from relationships. And when I thought the time was ripe to start afresh, something would come up, and disrupt the whole thing.

But it was not so with her. She was named Blessing. Her dialect name called her Princess, and now, I call her "my Princess". However, the story is not as juicy as it is becoming. We had a chat before I left for school, and she reiterated how hurt she was, from the last relationship. It was on the 1st of January, of the previous year, while everyone was rejoicing for a new year, she was all drenched in pain and tears, when she received a text message from her boyfriend signaling the end of a 5-year relationship. It has now taking her time to heal, and although she can now enjoy herself without much thought of it, she wants another year off relationships before she commits to something new. However, I am obsessed with her.

She is to articulate as I earlier said, and she suits what I want in a woman. I found her, and I want to share my life with her. We have alot in common, and I am learning from her. But above all, she is giving me something I don't have - LOVE.

Even though she doesn't know that she helps make my day by filling my every thought, I know she wants me but is skeptical of the decisions to take because she feels she may get hurt yet again. She thinks I don't love enough to guarantee her happiness, but I want to prove it.

I am almost distraught because of the replies I get for my SMS, but I find hope in that there seem some silver lining at the end of the clouds.

I only hope they be for good for me, her and US.

“BANKING SECTOR CONSOLIDATION IN NIGERIA AND THE NEED TO GENERATE SUPERIOR RETURNS”

On Tuesday, 6^th of July 2004, Central Bank of Nigeria governor, Professor Charles C. Soludo made pronouncements on banking sector reforms. This was designed to ensure a diversified, strong and reliable banking sector, which will ensure the safety of depositors money, play active development roles in the Nigerian economy and becoming competent and competitive players both in the African and global financial systems. Others are encouraging the emergence of regional and specialized banks.

However, Nigeria might be the 13^th largest oil-producing nation in the world with an estimated population of 137 million – the most populous Black nation in the world – but the state of its economy and infrastructure is yet to reflect the benefits of this position.

The banking sector has continuously been labeled as the major culprit for this situation. It is believed to have completely reneged on its role of financing sustainable economic development by rather supporting the import-dependence nature of te economy. Most of the revenue generated by banks is import business-related. This is largely due to the highly fragmented nature and the weak capital base of Nigerian banks.

But how the sector revitalizes itself and stands to the challenges of 21^st century banking, towards ensuring that stand-alone banks can boast of superior returns at the end of the financial year and partake in the reconstruction of the nation’s economy.

It is already widely recognized that one of the limitations of the banking sector in Nigeria is that most daily payments for commercial and other transactions, involving the overwhelming majority of the population, are being carried out outside the banking sector. This limitation constricts and stunts the development of the country’s economy, with far-reaching consequences to domestic savings and domestic investments, and for the modernization of agriculture and of small and medium scale manufacturing, which are essential requirements for self-sustained economic development. This limitation of the economy with regards to payments also discourages many forms of foreign investments, which find very attractive, the country’s substantial home market for consumer goods.

These limitations of the banking sector have various causes. But a major one among these is that this sector has not yet adapted its orientation, methods of operation and whole ethos, to the systems of commercial and other payments actually operated by the majority of the people of Nigeria in both the rural and urban areas.

In many parts of Nigeria, for some transactions, payments in public with, or without formal witnesses, are normal. But payments for other transactions are normally in private. The banks as they are now, have not adapted to this. Neither have they adapted to the fact that, almost all over Nigeria, people with substantial sums of money to pay, or to receive, can not just make these payments, or collect these sums of money, from any Tom-Dick-and-Harry, just because he, or she happens to be the cashier, or, the manager of the bank. They will only make these payments to persons they have built some relations of recognition, respect and trust with. As a result, the banking system is avoided for large volumes of transactions, which if the banks had adapted to the moral economy of this country would normally be done through them.

Infact, the banks in Nigeria have not yet adapted their operations to the economic behavior of ordinary Nigerians, to enable many small shareholders, even their own shareholders, to get their dividends paid to them. The operations of these banks largely excludes these shareholders, even for something as basic as cashing a dividend certificate.

There are, besides these, many other limitations of Nigerian banks, which cripple their capacity to provide adequate banking services, which can propel the economy forward. One of the major areas of their shortcomings is in the limited reach of their saving services. The extensive networks of savings and credit schemes found all over the country, known as adashi, esusu and by other names, have up to now not linked up in a sustained, productive way with Nigerian banks. All the rhetoric about micro – credit from the highest levels of the Nigerian Government, have evaded facing up to this woeful failure of Nigerian banks and of the governments in creatively adapting to, and developing these vital systems of savings and credit.

It is widely recognized that savings, by individuals, families, clans, public institutions, municipalities, local, regional and central governments, are key to the rapid and sustained economic progress of China, Korea, and most of South East Asia, over the last 40 years. Domestic savings and not foreign direct investment, has been the crucial factor, crucial in earlier cases of successful investment in to the modernization of agriculture and industrialization in Europe, the Americas and Japan. Nigeria cannot take-off economically in to the 21ist century unless and until, its banks are capable of raising the rate of its domestic savings and investments to a much higher level.

It has been seen as a paradox that despite the state of the economy, the country’s reserves are still deposited in foreign vaults due to the low capacity of the local banks. This has rendered the system very marginal relative to its potentials and in comparison to other countries. There has therefore been the need to be proactive and to strategically place Nigerian banks to be active players and not spectators in the emerging world economy.

In as much as the minimum capital base requirement for banks was N 2 billion (before the recent requirement of N 25 billion), a lot of banks still depended on deposits from the public sector. Many banks appeared to have abandoned their essential intermediation role of mobilizing savings and inculcating banking habit at the household and micro enterprise levels. Although the distribution among banks of public funds was not uniform, there were some banks whose dependency ratios were in excess of 50%. The implications were that the resource base of such banks became weak and volatile, rendering their operations highly vulnerable to the savings in government revenue, arising from the uncertainties of the international oil market.

To effectively provide banking services to customers and mobilize funds from the public, banks will need to deploy various capital-intensive service delivery channels. The over-dependence on cheap public sector funds has negatively affected the drive of Nigerian banks to provide these alternative service delivery channels and therefore undermined the need for banks to increase their capitalization. With the new reforms, banks should, finally begin to look beyond the minimum N 25 billion and regard these policy changes as an opportunity to emerge as mega banks with capitalization of probably over N 70 billion to effectively migrate into and participate in the global financial marketplace.

As the banks undergo reformation, a new look sector should emerge functioning as an effective enabler of development in other sectors of the economy. In the Nigerian situation, the banking sector is experiencing phenomenal growth at about 24% while the real sectors of the economy have been experiencing slow growth, stagnation or even negative growth. The reasons behind this abnormality in sector growth trends cannot be too far from the fact that the core income – generating line for the Nigerian banking industry has been import finance. The impetus for the Nigerian banking sector to support the relatively more painstaking riskier real sectors of the economy ha thus been eroded since the import business with shorter turn-around time and reduced risk can deliver the required profitability for the banks. This situation has lingered on for years and unfortunately, the impact has been a falling Naira and dwindling foreign reserves.

With the reforms and specifically the removal of public sector funds from the banks, banks should be forced to shift their focus to the real sectors and target the cash flows of these businesses. Essentially, banks will thereby support economic growth in a sustainable way. The resultant effect will be a banking industry that effectively meets the financial needs of the Nigerian economy at all levels.

Superior returns, shall not only be in monetary forms because the reform will have a positive impact on the labour force in the long term. The banking industry is a significant employer of labour, employing over 470,003 of the skilled workforce in Nigeria. A potential fall-out of the proposed industry transformation will possibly be staff redundancy in a bid by banks to maximize efficiency. However, the number of the economically active population of the country, which is to be about 71 million individuals, makes the overall impact of potentially layoffs minimal. While this maybe disruptive in the short-term, the benefits to the economy over the long-term are more extensive. A stronger banking industry will be able to adequately support rejuvenating the real sector and ultimately creating more jobs within the economy in the long-term.

With the recent consolidation of banks due to inability to meet up with the minimum capital base stipulated by the Central Bank of Nigeria, new, strong and reliable mega banks shall emerge with the capability, to drive the nation’s economy in to the global marketplace. The banking panorama is expected to change after the consolidation programme currently in progress. Mega banks with a large capital base shall dot the landscape with corresponding large assets, deposits, customers and shareholders base and funds. This change though will no doubt create challenges for both the operators and regulators of the industry. To curb this, the Central Bank, has embarked on the establishment of an Asset Management Company (AMC) to purchase non-performing loans in emerging banks that cannot face the challenges.

As the banking sector faces reformations, there are great needs, to turn in superior returns. But how the banks ensure the realization of this goal;, remains the unanswered question. One major obstacle to realizing this would be poor corporate governance. Post consolidation banks should design, install and implement transparent and accountable corporate governance structures, processes and strategies. Corporate governance should provide for zero tolerance of insider abuse and non-performing insider credit which is the major reason for financial and management crisis in some banks.

Design, installation and implementation of effective risk management and internal control systems to ensure that risks they take on in their operations are properly assessed, priced and managed. Consequently, persons to head the risk management and internal control portfolios must be of top management grade with the requisite skills, power and authority to execute their mandate. The corporate governance codes must provide for the monitoring of compliance with anti-money laundering laws and regulations.

The Central Bank stands in a very key position, in revitalizing the banking sector and generate superior returns after all. What is necessary, is an atmosphere where the Asset Management Company (AMC) and a technical committee set up by the apex bank, would screen intending banks on money handling, working experience, size, strength et al as the Central Bank wishes, so that our monies stored up in foreign vaults which continually generate huge interest for such banks abroad, would be “deported” and lodged in our own now mega banks. With this happening, the interests that once were accrued for foreign banks would now be accrued for our local banks, and at the end, invested in the real sector of the economy.

However, one realization today is that investors are seeking above market (superior) returns on investment without subjecting their capital to undue risks. Accomplishing these often, contradictory goal require a discriminating investment strategy, an approach affordable by private equity investment partnerships. A private equity investment can be defined as a stock ownership stake in a company with equity securities that are publicly traded. Superior returns are developing corporate programs for management and employees, and identifying appropriate add-on acquisitions. Private equity investments represent an attractive form of diversification for banks and other large investors. Allocating assets to private equity investments can generate a significant long-term impact on the value of portfolio.

For example, assume that a $100 million fund generates a consistent return of 10% a year. Over a 10-year period, the fund will grow to $259.4 million. What would happen if the fund decided to switch a small portion of its assets - $5 million – into a private equity investment that yielded a 25% annual return, leaving the remaining $95 million to accumulate at 10%? The first year’s increase in overall return would be $750,000, yielding the investor 10.75% instead of 10%, a modest but worthwhile gain. But over a 10-year period, the results would be truly dramatic: the fund’s assets would grow to a total of $293 million, an increase of $33.6 million. That works out to an average annual return of just over 11.3 percent, a 130 basis point improvement.

There is every need for greater superior returns by Nigerian banks due to some distresses like high costs of IT, inflation and interest rate. But there is every need for greater profits, to have enough so that the real sector growth can be encouraged. The import finance dependence has to be abolished. But it is only when the industry is getting enough from the real sector that it is going to shy away from import business relations, and settle down for homegrown industrialization.

The value of the Naira has continued to drop and this is no good omen for the economy. The better the profit turnover, the more cash flow and then a stable Naira. The apex bank must also play a part in realizing this need. It must stand disciplined, and stick to its agenda for improving the industry. As such, the internal machinery for effective supervision of the industry must be put in place. The judicial system should also begin to prepare first, for post-consolidation altercations that may arise because of some incompatible “marriages” and then necessary e-laws to guide the new face of banking. Thus even as the portfolios increase a new haven would appear to have been created for criminals and debtors. This is why the judicial and security systems in the country must provide protection against both armed and unarmed criminals.

The living condition of the masses should also be looked into, as they are the depositors of major funds. Community projects and environmentally conscious developments should be planned as they also stand as a type of investment.

The banking regulations towards ensuring greater superior returns must also walk the same path with the Federal Government’s reform policies. These policies though long-term, should be made lenient enough, to yield short-term benefits. The Nigerian State is heading towards holding the controls of world economics and only when its economy is vibrant and the banking sector strong, shall it be able to withstand any storm at sea.

Remittances and their Effects

Historians have always maintained that “many human institutions are the result of human action, but not of human design”. This is the plight of the African continent, nay, the Third World. Languishing in poverty, strife, decaying economies and often worse governance, the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) might be far from being realized before the targeted 2015.

Often times, citizens have been forced to seek greener pastures, therefore, propelling the migration of the “best” brains or, rather, the ablest of hands to countries with better opportunities. But there seem to be light at the end of the tunnel.

Interestingly, the money that these emigrants and thus, temporary workers in the developed economies send back home are doing the trick. Termed, “the diaspora that fuels development”, these remittances – private aid from the poor to the poorer – are today, the largest, fastest-growing and most reliable source of income for developing countries. It is seen to be larger than Foreign Direct Investments (FDI) and Official Development Assistance (ODA) from all countries combined, - totaling a whopping $167 billion in 2005 – quite more than official aid flows of $166 billion.

In little sums of $188 Zimbabwean emigrants (27% of the 96% that remit) send home, to as much as $1000 Phillipinos receive from relations working abroad, remittances are making the world go round. Today, remittances amount to 2½ times the Haitian national budget, and atleast 20% of its Gross Domestic Product – a country that has such a subsistence economy that most of the money has to go straight to consumption and education.

Evidently, remittances are getting more attention, because of the failure of previous development programmes. This ‘private’ foreign aid is much more likely to go the people who really need it because unlike development loans or private capital, they come without strings. And because no bureaucracy is needed to manage them, bureaucrats can not squander them.

According to a World Bank report, remittances help to stabilize irregular incomes and to build human and social capital. It is also playing a central role in providing basic services where most States have failed. And although its use can be polarized - in the Comoros Island remittances are majorly spent on “anda” wedding ceremonies while in Somalia, it has become a lifeline to survival for the majority - remittances are making a difference.

Another thing about remittances is its effects over foreign aid. Remittances have reduced the level and dept of poverty and countries with higher level of poverty are not necessarily receiving more remittances. And the largest effects of remittances on poverty are observed in countries close to major labour-receiving areas. However, remittances have not translated in to investment growth and robust expansion of manufacturing as much as foreign aid has. It is noted also, that only its securitization can ensure that it raises loans in the international market at concessional rates which does not work out uniformly for all countries especially when the countries does not depend on such loans, for example, India or China.

At the same time, remittance funded investments are often found to be highly inefficient, poorly managed and unsustainable. The World Bank indicates that although private funds from the diaspora have built hospitals and schools, a lack of communications with the government often led to staff shortage in these facilities as seen in the Comoran Islands.

The issue of migration is one thing that has undermined the effects of remittances. By 2005, Nigeria alone had about 22,000 migrant Doctors, working in the United Kingdom. This has subsequently depleted the workers in areas as the health sector that has barely been able to cope with issues like Poliomyelitis, Malaria and the HIV/AIDS prevalence. However, the situation may look relieving for a country where unemployment have been on the rise, although, the quality of new hands expected to take over the vacant spaces is not sure.

The complementarity of remittances to foreign aid is pone way, to bolster development. According to President Tony Saca of El Savador, himself a benefactor of remittances, “the big challenge is to turn our workers abroad in to partners in the country’s progress, so that their remittances leave a legacy of productive investment at home”. This is because the success stories of remittances are individual, not collective. They can keep a lot of people from falling deeper in to poverty, but unless the government does the right things, they don’t lift many in to the middle class.

Remittances if handled and channeled through proper ways can complement the goals of foreign aid programs. If the money is mostly used for food, but also for rent, baptisms, weddings, funerals, gambling, then remittances are also part of our future. There is therefore the need to draw up strategies to quantify remittance income and explore ways to stretch the money to complement foreign aid.

This can be rather difficult, but the sooner it is done in expectation of yielding long-term results, the better. These strategies include, coaxing recipients to open savings accounts so that some of the money can be recycled in to small-business loans; encourage recipients to invest the money directly in community-wide businesses because such ventures can attract outside capital and become engines of prosperity; proper utilization of foreign exchange earnings from remittances in imports, so as to have a deleterious effect on export competitiveness; flexing financial and monetary policies and regulations creating barriers to the flow of remittances and their effective investment.

Securitization of remittances can also make it as much as possible, reliable and transparent in order to limit the potential for abuse. Other strategies are paying more attention to integrating migration policy within the larger global dialogue on economic development and poverty reduction; and entrusting remittance transfer in to the hands of credible financial institutions, so that it becomes part of foreign exchange reserves.

Crescendo!

It was my first time in Nigeria's commercial capital, and even though I experienced what I've always read of in the papers and online, I still have fond memories of the workshop I was invited to attend.

I received soul enriching presentations from wonderful role models, and had fun. Now, I am gingered, to work hard and get a front page news. And even though Uforma Egbamuno is in the race with me, I know I can beat him to the game.

Now, I can't wait to put ion to use the knowledge I gained.

AIMING FOR THE TOP

On Sunday, I received a call to inform me that I have been invited to a workshop for student - correspondents of a newspaper house in Nigeria's commercial hub, Lagos.

I was elated and quickly sent a confirmation, for my presence. It has been one of the things I have always dreamt of, one of the things I have always wanted, a room to explore the world of the things I most desire and crave.

I had started writing for the campus section of the newspaper, and I had just reeled in two reports when the invitation came knocking on my door, and I grabbed it with two hands.

Now, am in euphoria, and am preparing to learn the art of journalism and polish my writing at this workshop.

I would not also rule out the opportunity to create a network of contacts. It would also enable me to check on my girlfriend, Ifunanyam, Chiamaka, Vivian.

Some light after the tunnel

Early this month, I was in deep shit - knee deep in depression, and I was really looking forward to getting sme help somewhere, but as no one is yet to visit my blog, as seen from the zero number of comments posted, I guess I must give kudos t myself, for thge moral fibre exhibited, to really get myself out of depression.

However, it was not without some help from a bunch of five friends - all of them girls, who helkped me out if it, actually talking me out of it. Well, one thing to note is that one of the girls, the youngest in particular, was instrumental to my present state. Today, the opther four see her, as the doorkeeper to my heart. We have now become best of friends, and I must confess, something emmotional is springing from the ...

But I am deeply concerned about the many others who are out there, going down with depression. Others, with stress. Can't we give them an arena, a panorama where they can exhale?

LOW EBBS!

I don't know how many people get to experience a low ebb in life. That moment, when all the good things you have planned for with so much precision, just come crashing without any sort of sympathy. And then you just feel like ending your life. You don't want to believe you are set in depression, but you know you are no longer working the normal fast pace you were known with, and the passions that drive you just seem to die out.

However, the thing is that you know this very well, because you have ample knowledge of this time in Man's life, but you just can't do anything other than tell people about it. And the more you say, the more they just look at you and lack solutions for you. This indeed, have caused youngsters with great dreams and aspirations to take their own lives incessantly.

I think its high time, that advisors and councilors begin to do something about it, as it seems to creep into the adolescence society. As a matter of fact, am at my lowest ebb. It has become a moment for me, when I no longer want to finish school because I feel am being deprived of the actual grades I deserve, my passion for social works is now under scrutiny after I lost a major election not because I wasn't competent enough, but because some persons wanted somebody there, without considering competence and availability.

It is killing dreams and maiming development. GUYS, am at my lowest ebb, and am in need of help. I am beginning to feel suicidal.

Economics and Freedom in Islamic Societies

“Men persist only with the help, of property. The only way to property is through cultivation. The only way to cultivation is through justice.”[1] “Injustice brings about the ruin of civilization.”[2]

The streets of Iran get festooned in the second week of February with revolutionary bunting. Black and green banners commemorating the martyrdom of the third shi’a imam, Huseyn, flutter from lamp-posts, even though the mournful Ashura rites of late January should have been over. The banners will hang beside national flags looking forward to February 11th, when Iranians mark the anniversary of Ruhollah Khomeini’s Islamic revolution of 1979.

The emotional outpouring that characterize religious festivals in particular, the martyrdom days of important shi’ah saints, are in part convectional, but they are also massive. Men and women weep and moan, smite their foreheads, and in rhythmical unison, beat their chests.[3] Some observers think that these expressions of emotion have social psychological importance, that they are releases of frustrated and pessimistic feelings that are continually engendered by the ethos of insecurity.

The Shi’ite abandon that have flourished most especially in the Persian state for centuries as are other sectarian practices in other parts of the Moslem world, denotes the irreparable divide of the Moslem world over the political question of the caliphate which illustrates a characteristic of Islam, that every Moslem thinks of himself as living in a theocracy, although Islam itself a nomocracy, denounces in strong terms the premises upon which theocracy now reigns in the Moslem world.

The Qur’an recognizes man as a being at once rational, volitional, acquisitive, and ethical – a man completely living in liberty, acting to provide for his existence without sacrificing his moral sensibilities.[4] Thus the Qur’an insists on the harmony of man’s spiritual (liberty) and material (economic) interests, embedded in the most important and comprehensive concept of Islam at the practical level, the shari’ah.

However, because of the diversion from strict Islamic injunctions foretold by the prophet Mohammed (SAW)[5], the gradual devolution of Islamic economic and spiritual practice away from the shari’ah may as well account for why the Moslem world declined in to intellectual darkness and economic stagnation.

Today, economies are blossoming in the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Qatar to mention a few. But the circumstances that lead to the emergence of these economies and the continued deadlock in other Islamic nations to device a means to economic boom, is readily found in their mix of freedom and economic policies.

In ancient Moslem world, freedom denotes property. Ibn Khaldoun surmises, that “whoever takes someone’s property, or uses him for forced labor…does injustice to that particular person.”[6] Thus two aspects of the ethos of insecurity, fatalism and evasive deference to authority as characterized in Iranian culture many denote the lack of freedom either from the state or some external powers, which are identified as inconducive to individual and institutional innovations[7].

There is only one effective method for government to increase its revenues, and that is “through equitable treatment of people and regard for them”[8] so that “they have the incentive to make their capital bear fruit and grow.”[9] When the equitable treatment lacks, the state is certainly tilted towards feudalism, one way or the other. The misconception of this, tarnished the efforts of Iran’s last Shah,[10] crumbled every system (except the military) in Iraq[11] and caused massive bitterness in Lebanon[12] and Syria[13].

Societies are complex orders[14]. They require freedom because the information and knowledge that make them work can never be amassed by a central authority. Freedom to the process of achieving spontaneous order (in this case, stable economies) in society because we do not know in advance which rules will work, because liberty is essential to the trial-and-error process, and because the creative powers of man can only be expressed in a society in which power and knowledge are widely dispersed[15] When knowledge is determined by the existence of power, a feudalist regime would subsequently crush the aims of the Qur’an, principled in the Shari’ah.[16]

The hum of commerce eases the path of social cooperation in a free society, in part because it offers man opportunities that are simply not available when acting alone or in a state of war of all against all. Security and prosperity are interdependent and in free societies far surpasses those of nations where conflict marks difference of faith.[17]

Such celebrations like the anniversary of Ruhollah Khomeini’s Islamic revolution of 1979 usually go unnoticed in nations like Americas. But not of recent. The strong political power play amongst conservatives, clerics and liberals have continued to generate growing concerns from outside, owing to the fact the Iran produces 9% of the world’s total supply of oil, and is a key meddler cum player in issues surrounding the ‘heat’ in the Middle East. Its provocative president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad denies the holocaust and calls for Israel’s destruction – a complete wipe out form the map.

Iran and America are presently moving rapidly towards a face-off, both over Iraq – where Iran is again meddling – and over Iran’s nuclear programme. Having removed UN seals from its Natanz reactor in January 2006, it resumed uranium enrichment and president Ahmadinejad says his country is “fiddling with uranium and plutonium to produce more electricity.”[18] But America and many other western countries suspect it is building a bomb.

Iran’s problem however, remains its foreign policies that have remained cold, rater towards the countries that seem to have the will power to help it out of its economic shambles, that have brought the whole system to near collapse since the revolution of 1979. One thing remains that Iran continues to see itself as a regional power in the Middle East and must therefore rubbish the efforts of any other, trying to meddle.[19] However stiff Iran’s policies might be to western civilization and freedom at home yoked with strings of limitations, it is pertinent that the slow journey of Iranians out of isolation and in to modern, westernized world is gathering pace. With two thirds of the population under the age of 30[20], Arab tribalism beyond urban fringes is easily broken than idols.

At night in the city of Esfahan, ancient capital of Persia, by the river an on the boulevards, giggling teenage girls dart out to shove scraps of paper in to the hands of loitering boys. On each is scrawled a mobile phone number – “message me, if you like me too”, as the meaning. Surfing internet chatrooms, watching satellite TV from the illegal dish that everyone seems to have and using your mobile to set up a blind date are just a few ways to meet members of the opposite sex and sample the ways of the world outside.

All these despite the restriction of Iran’s powerful clerics and however much they may rail against the cultural invasion of the US and its acolytes – they say – on curbing the spread of Islam, the prime worry remains economic. Prior to the stiffer sanctions in October this year, the investment pinch from earlier sanctions is greatly being felt across the country: the government now offers cash for priority jobs, such as building oil refineries. All dollar exchanges, including small transfers for private individuals have become extremely complicated and it is very hard to use a credit card to buy online from inside Iran.[21]

Iran may seem defiant, but a recent poll showed that a staggering 70% or more think dialogue with America is a good idea. Outraged conservatives might have instantly clapped the pollster in jail, but that won’t change street attitudes, but reformed policies would.[22] Aside that, decentralization of ownership of the resources down to the level of the individual, protected by a system of well defined property rights including the internalization of costs incurred by environmental impact must be the first concern of Iran, and indeed an Islamic government towards an economically successful society. Besides, sound monetary policies are a pre-requisite for sustainable comprehensive development, although it is disturbing that modern Moslem economies have overlooked the fact that a sound money is an indispensable pre-requisite.

The immunity of Mecca’s sanctuary against outlawry and outrage had promoted this city’s commercial importance. The prophet Mohammed (SAW) made Ka’bah, the sanctuary of a monotheistic faith whose sacred writings were impregnated with the injunctions and prohibitions needed by a business community for secure and stable trading. If only successive generations would not drift farther from the principles of the religion.

© 2008 Atlas Economic Research Foundation

My entry for the Ibn Khaldoun Essay Contest for 2007.

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[1] Ibn Khaldoun 1967, v. I, p. 64.

[2] Ibn Khaldoun 1967, v. II, p. 103

[3] Iran: Daily life and social customs. Encyclopædia Britannica Online. http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-230063/Iran.

[4] Ahmad I. A. 1996, An Islamic Perspective on the Wealth of Nations. Minaret of Freedom Preprint Series 96-4.

[5] Prophet Mohammed is said to have foretold, that the first generation of Moslems adhere most closely to the principles of the religion and each successive generation drifts farther from it.

[6] Ibn Khaldoun 1967, v. II, p. 107.

[7] The Islamic idea that property is a consequence of development does not differ from – and anticipates – Locke’s notion that use establishes the right of property. Thus, when lands are conquered, shared and used, it automatically becomes the property of the occupant. Thus property is strictly viewed in terms of individual, communal and state basis. Only through zealous protection of the property rights of the people (both their private property and the environment) can society spontaneously productive economies.

[8] Ibid., p. 103.

[9] Ibid.

[10] Iran: Protest and failure. Encyclopædia Britannica Online. http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-230078/Iran

[11] Iraq: Iraq under Saddam Hussein. Encyclopædia Britannica Online. http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-232292/Iraq

[12] Lebanon: Consequences of the war. Encyclopædia Britannica Online. http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-23382/Lebanon

[13] Syria Ba'thist Syria after 1963. Encyclopædia Britannica Online. http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-29927/Syria

[14] Nigel Ashford. The Freeman: Ideas on Liberty - July 1999. Vol. 49 No. 7. Foundation for Economic Education.

[15] Ibid.

[16] Life in a free society can then be hard because it will force individuals to adjust to the needs of others. The free society works because it coordinates conflicting desires by creating incentives for people to satisfy those of others. This is the opposite of a state in which one can only achieve one’s aims at the expense of others.

[17] Ibid.

[18] The Economist. Volume 382 Number 8515. p.25

[19] It opposes the United State and Israel, the former as a military power that threatens it in the Persian Gulf, and the latter as part of its stance and support for Palestine. Iran thus stands to eliminate outside influence in the region, as seen in its sponsored Taleban government in Afghanistan before the ouster and war.

[20] A birth boom was encouraged during the first years of the Islamic revolution to provide a steady flow of young martyrs for the eight year war with Iraq.

[21] As a result, Iran is finding it increasingly expensive to borrow money. Foreign government-backed credits are getting harder to come by, even legitimate businesses are suffering, as foreign banks find it hard to be certain that the transactions they handle are not being diverted for nefarious purposes, through Iran’s network of front companies. Already, capital is fleeing the country, much of it reportedly ending up in Dubai.

[22] Ibn Khaldoun in his magnum opus – the Muqaddimah, says “in the attempt to earn the increase of capital that constitutes profit, it is unavoidable that one’s capital gets in to the hands of traders” and “all this causes the merchant a great deal of trouble… if he is not afraid of quarrels, knows how to settle an account, and is always willing to enter in to a dispute…he stands a better chance of being treated fairly…” Ibn Khaldoun, Wali ad-Din 1967, The Muqaddimah: An Introduction to History, Franz Rosenthal, trans. (Princeton: Princeton Univ. Press).

Seeking Creativity

Some days back, I was trying to add some creativity to my writing... I just wanted to sound good, you know, something that people could buy, when it finally goes to the market.
Then of course, I started musing and finally came up with one little piece of shit. But, I must confess, it just got stuck, the moment I finished this part.
And thank God, it did. Or else, my morals could have been something different now. Anyway, brace yourself and read this piece, without jostling out of yourself in to a world of...