The NBS have indicated a very strong desire to include Prostitution and Drug running as contributors to the GDP as they struggle to meet whatever targets they must have been given.
They cite as justification the fact that the UK and some other European Countries have done same as early as 10years ago.
They also argue on scale. According to them, the revenues generated by these activities are all so consuming that it can no longer be ignored.
An international Economist and former top dog and the Nigerian Stock Exchange in a call to me mentioned that the industry was now valued at an estimated N1 trillion
He went further to assert that the industry impacts other sectors like Transport and logistics, real estate, fashion and entertainment, pharmaceuticals, hospitality amongst others.
To drive home his point, he asserts that – landlords from Lekki phase 1 round about down to Osapa london have turned their houses to hostels for sex workers.
So flats have been broken down and turned into apartments that collects daily rents from sex workers.
He also went ahead to state that sex workers are the major drivers of the Uber business in these areas.
And finally, he alarmingly said that most females in Nigeria now have at least 5 men within their economic intimate circles with which they collect rents based on sexual services.
Well, I am not in a position to challenge his obviously alarming assertions which he claims to be based on empirical analysis and can be verified through well designed surveys and other such tactical methods that he knows the NBS can do.
My own is to look at the leadership of other such sectors like the Armed Robbers, counterfeiters, kidnappers and other such allied players who do not have the kind of recognition their cousins have just received to begin to seek avenues to achieve same
Scale is the main justification. N1trillion is the target.
They too must scale so that they hit the target and impact other sectors so that their own contributions are also counted.
We must achieve a double digit growth in GDP and all sectors of the economy must contribute.
By the way, can the NBS also look at yahoo yahoo and love scam.
These are huge forex earners that impact technology, Communication, tech infrastructure, fin tech, entertainment and hospitality.
The figures are huge, with billions generated and moved into Nollywood and music giving us global recognition in those spaces.
The EFCC must be asked to stand down, training schools established to train and bring up younger players very quickly, Government should also cancel all bilateral treatise on them and serve up immunity on the sector so that they can grow and topple agriculture as the leading contributor to the GDP.
I believe if all these is done and more, we would be able to achieve growth, secure gainful employment for our people, better standard of living and generally rebuild the economy.
Let’s do this and when we finish, you come and beat me
Yeye
Duke of Shomolu