originated and has been made in the nearby Abia State of Nigeria , which he said would be his official outfit as governor of the state . In my view , this is meant to send a strong message about his mindset , as far as the state ’ s economic policies are concerned .
Additionally , Professor Soludo declared that the official vehicles for the government of Anambra State will henceforth be sourced from the Nigerian car manufacturing company , Innoson , and that , indeed , whatever needs to be done in Anambra State , down to the food for official occasions , will be sourced locally . Only in extenuating situations , where there are no locally available options , will the government go beyond the state , beyond the region or beyond the country and Africa - in that order - to source for product or expertise . Soludo made it seem like a no-brainer – that a seating government official should take the lead in supporting local production and manufacturing . Yet , that has not been the story of many African governments since Independence .
A penchant for acquired tastes , conspicuous consumption and the belittling of indigenously African goods and services have been the root cause of Africa ’ s economic predicament . These are qualitative values and no amount of quantitative national studies , macro- and micro-economic interventions , aids , loans and grants can address that peculiar crisis in Africa .
While instituting transformation in Burkina Faso ’ s agricultural sector , Thomas Sankara asked the question , ‘ Where is imperialism ? Look at your plates when you eat . The imported rice , maize and millet ; that is imperialism .’ He implored his people thus : ‘ Let us try to eat what we control ourselves .’ Beyond the rhetoric , President Sankara went on to empower rural farmers through rural land redistribution policies . Enough supplies , as well as infrastructure , were made available to local farmers , boosting their confidence and building hope across rural communities . In a matter of a few years , Burkina Faso ’ s agricultural terrain massively improved . Within three years , wheat cultivation grew exponentially from 1700 kg per hectare to 3800 kg per hectare and Burkina Faso got to be included in the global list of countries that are self-sufficient in food production .
Agricultural growth is often synonymous with overall economic growth , historically . In the United States , for instance , from 1948 to 2017 , the Total Factor Productivity ( TFP ) in agriculture , which is the rate of growth of agricultural output such as crops , livestock products and others , increased at the rate of 1.47 % per annum .
In Burkina Faso , the turnaround in agricultural fortunes also spilled over to such crops as cotton , emboldening the President to ban the importation of clothing and textiles while canvassing support for made-in-Burkina Faso fabric and clothing . Burkinabes dusted off the France-imposed shame on their local fabric , Faso dan Fani , and followed their President in proudly wearing the cotton-based outfit . In short , Thomas Sankara framed his economic policies around the central conviction that all government projects must , as much as possible , utilize local materials , labour / expertise , and financing .
Thomas Sankara tightened the financial reporting mechanism of state-run enterprises , as well as increased taxes on such elite products and services as tobacco and car registration . With that , the contribution of tax revenue to the GDP of Burkina Faso grew from 13.5 % in 1983 to 16.3 % in 1987 .
This recorded economic progress in many sectors of the economy was matched by strong investments in the social sectors of health , education and housing such that within the short period of five years , progress in basic education far exceeded what was achieved in the 22 years of Burkina Faso ’ s Independence .
Although the central government still wields a lot of power , Nigeria ’ s federal system is such that states are like mini-countries within Nigeria , with agitations by citizens for even more devolution of powers to the state . With the current level of state autonomy , however , Professor Soludo is in a position to follow in the footsteps of Sankara and remarkably transform Anambra state ’ s economy during the period of his leadership .
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