ICICE AN-NOOR MASJID KHUTBAH FOR FRIDAY 8/11/2019

RISING FROM UNDERDEVELOPMENT IS NOT IMPOSSIBLE

All praise is due to Allah. I testify there is no deity worthy of worship but Him and Prophet Muhammad is His final messenger.

Believers! Fear God and let every soul look to what it lays up for the future. Fear God: God is aware of what you do.

Ehssan Alfakeeh wrote: “In the 1980s, Brazil experienced a severe economic crisis. It went to borrow from the IMF, believing it was the solution to its economic crisis.

And of course, the unfair conditions are applied, which led to the layoffs of millions of workers and reduce the wages of other workers, and the abolition of subsidy.

The Brazilian economy collapsed, and other countries interfered into Brazil’s domestic policies. The World Bank has forced the state to add to its constitution a set of articles that have ignited domestic political unrest.

Despite Brazil’s acceptance of all terms and conditions, the crisis worsened more and more, and only 1% of Brazilians get half of the national income.

Millions of citizens fell below the poverty line, which led Brazil’s leaders to borrow from the Fund again, $ 5 billion, believing it is the way out of the crisis.

Things got deteriorated further, and Brazil has become the most corrupt, it expelled immigrants out of country, became the largest in crime rate, drug abuse and debt in the world. Public debt rose to 9 times in 12 years.

The IMF even threatened to declare Brazil bankrupt if it did not pay interest on the loans and refused to lend them any amount at the end of 2002. The currency collapsed … “The dollar reached eleven thousand Cruzeiro”

The country was dying in the full sense of the word.
Until 2003 came. Brazilians elected their new president … who was born poor, suffered, himself, from hunger, and the injustice of arrest. He even worked as a shoe shiner.

Everyone became afraid of him when he became president at first…
The businessmen said: this man will take our money and nationalize our businesses. And the poor said this would be stealing to make up for the deprivation …

But he didn’t …

He famously said: “Austerity measures doesn’t mean making everybody poor. It means the government is to do away with many luxuries so that the poor could be supported.”

He also famously said: “The IMF has only succeeded in destroying countries.”

He relied on his own people. He created an item in the annual budget called: “The direct social interventions” amounting to 0.5% of the GNP. It is paid directly to poor families. That is replacing support in kind with support in cash. This support was paid to eleven million families made up of 64 million Brazilians. This support was $735.

Of course, the question is: how did he get that while Brazil was bankrupt?!!

He raised taxes on all excluding beneficiaries of subsidies and government interventions. It means raising taxes on businessmen and rich people …

The other question is also: how did the businessmen just simply agreed to this?

They were happy to have been compensated with great “facilities” in investment and good mechanisms of operation to operate their businesses. As well as “granting” land allocation to them for free and eased business licensing. He also gave out soft loans. Helped them open up new markets,

Income of the poor increased and they bought products of the businessmen and the rich.

So they didn’t feel it “levy.”

But they paid taxes for “facilities” they benefit from more.

After 3 years only 2 million Brazilian immigrants returned and came with them 1.5 million foreigners to invest and live in Brazil.

In 4 years (one presidential term) he paid all the debt of the IMF.

Indeed, the IMF “borrowed” from Brazil $14 billion during the global crisis in 2008, that is, only five years after the “the new president” started ruling.

It is the same fund that wanted to declare Brazil bankrupt in 2002, and refused to lend to pay interest on loans .. !!

Thanks to the new president’s focus on 4 things:
Industry (manufacturing)… mining … agriculture … and of course education …

Brazil is making aircrafts

After the end of the two tenures (8 years) of that president in 2011 and after all these real “achievements” the people asked him to continue and amend the constitution … He strongly rejected that.

Brazil launched the first nuclear submarine (only five countries in the world manufacture nuclear submarines: America – Russia – China – Britain – France.) The first submarine was in cooperation with France … but it will launch the second submarine in 2020 and the third in 2022 with pure Brazilian industry … !!

Rising from underdevelopment is not impossible … it is “will” and “management.” It could happen in only a few years, and the method is known and defined: Industry … agriculture … attention to poor productive groups … and the “quality” of education …

This is what Germany and Japan did in the 1960s.

This is what East Asian countries did in the 1980s …

This is what India did in the 1990s …

This is what Turkey and Brazil did in 2003 …

This is what Ethiopia and Rwanda have been doing for years now.”

Observations:

Border closure is of tremendous benefits to the country by protecting it from hazardous imported items, proliferations of weapons and narcotics as well as local production patronization. But this is not without pains. National Orientations Agency (NOA), National Directorate of Employment (NDE) and Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency (SMEDAN) if get the desired attention form government and well-funded could do a lot to compensate for those who made loss due to border closure. FGN interventions especially through the CBN are no less in importance. With NOA orientating people on how to tap benefits of NDE, SMEDAN, CBN et c economy would be improved and security ensured.

Recommendations:

1. Forwarding honest and professional advice to the President’s Economic Advisory Council PEAC especially getting rid of any Riba contaminated venture.
2. Education needs to be seriously funded (hopefully no less than 25% of the annual budget) as well as get curriculum enriched with vocational skills and crafts.
3. Legislators and heads of ministries and MDAs are invited to observe the fear of Allah and put the interest of Nigeria in heart while budget defense and ensure social care sector is well funded in addition to education.

May Allah enhance our economy and keep us guided and guarded.