Whereas our people are hesitant to admit good fortune, those of us on this side have learnt to trace where the ball bounces and detect where the benefit is going as a result of reforms. The inflow of funds and the stratospheric performance of capital markets could also be traced directly to reforms in the foreign exchange market. One key player, Mr Femi Otedola, believes that the naira may rally to ₦1,000 for one dollar by December. This prediction must be taken seriously.
I was in front of about 20 Executive MBA students recently giving a talk, and when we discussed how the economy was doing, they seemed to unanimously believe that the Nigerian economy was worse off. But by the end, I had shown the whole class that their initial belief was exaggerated and came from an innate psychological bias. I did a quick diagnostic of people in the room, split them into those who earned salaries and those who ran some business or the other. Of those who earned salaries, I asked who among them hasn’t had their salaries doubled in the past three years. Some 70 per cent of those in this category admitted immediately to having had their salaries doubled, maybe tripled in the past three years. Mind you, our people don’t readily admit to things like this.
