El-Rufa’i: The Prophet of Neoliberalism (Originally posted on Facebook during the heated debate on the Sacking of health workers for embarking on strike action in May 2021)

Don’t just blame el-Rufai; you should also blame the broader principles of neoliberalism underpinning his actions. Neoliberal capitalism has always had its mission, at least in theory, as the expansion of frontiers of accumulation for the capitalist ruling class. Since the 1970s, the capitalist world has gradually abandoned Keynesian capitalism, which is more humane, with its commitment to citizens’ full employment and willful unemployment and willingness to compromise in favour of labour.

The problem with el-Rufai is his fanatical servility to the neoliberal theory. Even in advanced capitalist societies, there has always been a conflict between state policy and the neoliberal ideology of which the state claims to be committed. We have seen how, on many occasions, the state intervened to prop up the economy, rescue corporations from collapsing in the wake of crises, the latest being the ‘stimulants’ rolled out following the COVID- pandemic. There is no rock-solid commitment to neoliberal project anywhere on the planet.

It is unfortunate that leaders from Third World states like el-Rufai are struggling beyond limits to be more Catholic than the Pope, with their fanatical commitment to an economic theory deeply flawed in its fundamental assumptions, resulting in a practice that has never really matched the theory.

The pathway to achieving development by states is determined by many factors, most of them dictated by individual peculiarities of a society. It is not unilineal. Economics is not engineering- with straitjacket solutions to economic problems. For shrewd policymakers, theories can only be used as a reference in determining the available choices for advancing society, not infallible solutions to societal issues.

Many states that have attained development on the basis of capitalism have done so by firstly “getting the basics right”, to use the parlance of the world Bank. They invested in education to stimulate human capital development; they invested in infrastructure, to reduce the cost of business. And they took steps to maintain a healthy macroeconomic environment by keeping inflation and budget deficit low.

While el-Rufai is investing in the development of transport infrastructure in Kaduna town, funded through a single digit interest loan, as I understand, his sacking of over 50,000 workers, more than 200 per cent increase in school feels charged by the state-owned tertiary institutions and many other inhumane policies will only push millions of citizens of Kaduna State deeper into the abyss of poverty. The problem would be further compounded by his unsavoury approach to fighting banditry, kidnapping and related crimes, of which the state is becoming a hotbed. Getting “ the basics right” will remain a mirage if e-Rufai insists on an ironclad commitment to the application of neoliberal theory.

The Nigerian state is continuously implementing neoliberal policies that deepen private capital penetration into all spheres of the economy. And from the return of civil rule in 1999, el-Rufai has been one of the major actors in the neoliberal project, capping it up with his role as the DG BPE. Here we have one delicate issue- a theory that claims to advance human society, but in its ‘true’ application ends up destroying human life, and an obstinate politician with high opinions of himself, who believes the theory of neoliberalism, which has never been congruent with practice in more matured capitalist states, most guide government policy at all times and circumstances.