What Nigeria should learn from Lee Kuan Yew — Singapore’s legendary prime minister
“After trying out a number of ways to reduce inequalities and failing, I was gradually forced to conclude that the decisive factors were the people” — Lee Kuan Yew
As a child, I thought my world was perfect. Maybe it was because my parents were so blessed and could provide most for me, or i was just ignorant. It wasn’t until i turned eleven that i started to notice the problems around me. The world wasn’t perfect. There were people suffering. My family wasn’t eternally happy. Happy wasn’t the only emotion. My country was corrupt. I didn’t like it but i’d have to face all that sooner or later.
I had never really bothered about the state of Nigeria until now. The reason being i felt as long as i had money in the bank and a good family i’d be happy. But i recently realized that i had to change that ignorant mindset. In one year i’ve watched the country go from bad to worse, from Boko Haram to the Fulani Herdsmen, from fuel scarcity to removal of fuel subsidy. None of these directly affect me yet but for someone who wants to change the world, starting from my country, i have to start getting involved. In his Independence day speech, Tafawa Balewa not so famously said:
“ In these days of rapid communications, we cannot live in isolation, apart from the rest of the world, even if we wished to do so.”
I’d like to rephrase that. We cannot live in isolation, apart from the rest of Nigeria, even if we wished to do so. The Nigeria we want to see won’t come about by everyone adopting the popular OYO (On Your Own) approach. I feel our situation would only get worse if we continue to do so.
I first heard about Lee Kuan Yew in a leadership class i took in my university. From the moment i learned about him, i felt Nigeria had a lot to learn from him and Singapore as a whole.
Let’s rewind 50 years, Singapore was just a swampy island with 1.6 million inhabitants and no natural resources. But now, it’s the envy of the world with about 5.5 million inhabitants. All of these are testaments to the greatness of the man, Lee Kuan Yew.
After his passing in March 2015, the whole nation went into an official mourning of one week to honor their one true leader. He was the first prime minister of Singapore, and the longest-serving prime minister ever after ruling from 1959 to 1990.
He led them out of obscurity, holding successive ministerial positions for 56 years. And the stats speak for themselves.
- Singapore’s unemployment is just 2%.
- It is also the top country in which to do business, and has the 6th highest purchasing power(pdf) in the world. (Twice that of the UK)
- They are third in the global education league.
- It is possibly the world’s healthiest nation.
- 90% of Singaporeans own their own homes, which are mostly government built.
- The crime levels are almost the lowest in the world.
- It is one of the least corrupt nations in the world.
Some of the factors contributing to the success of Singapore, as detailed in his book, From Third World To First are:
- Wealth creation.
- Building quality homes.
- Huge investment in infrastructure, environment and leisure facilities.
- The Confucian principle — Each family taking responsibility for its members.
In terms of wealth creation, he focused on attracting investment and supporting local businesses. This keeps business taxation low, and gives generous allowances to startups. This can be applied to our startups to help them go global.
There is actually a body called the International Enterprise, which supports the establishment of new businesses in Singapore and helps them become global, which is a policy that can turn any state into a financial centre. Imagine a body that sees to the continual development of our very own Yabacon valley. That’d be freaking awesome.
Singapore has successfully made itself very attractive to outside investors and it’s pretty obvious that we should do so too. Nigeria’s direct foreign investment as at January 2016 is as low ever as reported by the Central Bank.
Singapore is taking advantage of its attractive position to investors and is expanding those markets, with GlaxoSmithKline the latest major business to decide to invest in a regional hub.
In 2013, Singapore spent 30 times more per head of population on infrastructure than the UK. Recent investments in leisure and tourism have seen the building of the iconic Marina Bay Sands hotel and the two largest climate-controlled greenhouses in the world. Singapore is increasingly visited by UK politicians seeking inspiration.
All these investments have been stated by their current prime minister as them investing in the future of their children. The way we seemingly invest in our children in this country is by stealing enough money for them to waste when they get older (Lol not that i know of any examples though).
So what do we do to learn from this success story? The answer is simple. Lee left a legacy of a well-run country, and as a leader who brought prosperity which was unheard of before his tenure. But all this was at a cost of an authoritarian style of government.
We should work together, as that’s the only way we’d be formidable enough to combat our numerous challenges. The deaf should see for the blind, the blind should hear for the deaf, and the cripple should speak for all.
I believe we should seek to grow our businesses, invest more in those businesses and hopefully come about the Industrial Revolution Africa so desperately needs. We should consider tourism as a source of income and if we do so, establish government policies to ensure it actually works.
#BuyNairaToGrowNaira
Thanks for reading!
Hi, I’m Ope. I’ve written more code than everyone else in the world, except for those who have written more code than me.
Say hi, email me at opeyemionikute@yahoo.com or check out my Twitter profile. Stay blessed!
