The bulls are in retreat. The bears are bearing down on us. If you listen to the experts, they say the recession is not yet full blown. But if you are a businessperson, you already feel the squeeze. Everyone's holding tight to their money. Nobody is 'charging' anymore (their horns having been severed). It gets worse: start-ups die before they crawl, venerable centuries-old businesses go bankrupt; Motown (not the records company) goes cap in hand to a spurning Washington for a lifeline. Even Merrill Lynch, bullish on America for as long as we know needed life support to keep kicking.
What does that say about our economic experts? Did they see it coming? If they did, could they have done anything about its not happening? If the West is already groaning so hard (Iceland became the first country to declare itself bankrupt!), what will be the fate of Nigeria? Ah, some say we are insulated, some say the groans are inevitable. What do we believe? Truth is, there is already a liquidity squeeze. Things aren't what they used to be.
Should that blunt initiative and the rise of the entrepreneurial class? With the banks becoming stingier than they normally are, what's the hope for the bootstraps guy? Our advice, strap your boots for the long haul! In quick time, (and unless a miracle occurs), many who are today employed will be numbered among the unemployed. The ranks of the restless will swell as many companies hedge their losses via massive lay-offs and outright closures.
It's the world's never ending cycle: long periods of prosperity punctuated with those abject periods of economic recession. The Great Depression of the 20th century was the mother of all recessions. Precipitated by the stock market crash of 1929, it sucked in the global economy in its downward spiral. But like John Rockefeller said back then in the thick of the whole thing: “These are days when many are discouraged. In the 93 years of my life, depressions have come and gone. Prosperity has always returned and will again”.
That should be the spirit for all whose hearts are already failing. These will be challenging times, no doubt. But if you think just a wee bit deeply, you'll remember that even when they were not global we have been down this road many times before. Remember the SAP days? The IFEM days? The Austerity Measures Days? The ESSENCO Days? Oh, we are familiar with this road. It's not more dangerous than our numerous pot-holed streets. The only difference is that it's global and we are catching cold even before we are diagnosed with any disease.
One thing you can be sure of: life is not going to end just because there is a recession. It will only task your already stretched wits. You'll have to go the extra mile, elongate the life span of every naira, tell yourself you aren't going down, your business is not going down, you'll be known for your positivity, and you'll bond with like-minded people who'll inspire one another to victory. Don't you see what happens to bulls in those wildlife documentaries, when they let down their guards and allow themselves be caught in the jugular by a pride of lions? This is not the time to faint. Let us reclaim our horns and charge right back. Who born recession?!
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