Capital is a coward; it flees from wherever there is turbulence.” Time Management For almost ten years, the idea has been disturb-ing my mind that perhaps the time has come in Ni-geria when governments at all levels must consider security as an economic variable. Right now, Nigerians, in and out of government remain the only people in any large economy who have not accepted that time is a vital resource – as valuable as capital and labour. “For they who know its worth fret most when time is wasted in delay.” Aleghieri Dante, 1265-1321, in PURGATORY “Time is the scarcest resource and unless it is managed, nothing else can be managed”. Frederick Drucker, 1909-2005. Dante first drew my attention to it before Druck-er, the father of Management By Objectives, MBO, finally knocked into my head that time is a valuable resource. Most of us have heard it said that “time is mon-ey”. We might have even used the expression our-selves; when in reality we don’t believe it. Nigerians certainly don’t believe that time is an economic resource. That is why this is the only country, even in Africa, where people unashamedly talk about African time. If indeed there is African time, then surely there must be Japanese, Brazilian, German or Canadian times. Yet we all know, from dealing with nationals of various countries that they all keep to time – the same time. My experience working in the International Sales Department of POLAROID Corporation, the inventors of instant photography – “wait and get” – in the early 1970s remains indelible in my mind till today. As an African, citizen of a Commonwealth country – Nigeria – it was decided that I would be the ideal salesman for the Caribbean nation island states – all 36 of them. Consequently I spent four years hopping around those favoured holiday resorts and establishing dealers in ever country. On no single occasion was any prospective deal-er late for an appointment in almost 48 months. But, in 1973, after persuading my Sales Manag-er that Nigeria had the best potential for African business, I was despatched as second-in-command of the team to come to Nigeria. We had requested the American Embassy in Lagos to help identify likely partners; and three were short-listed and invited for preliminary as-sessments. The meeting was scheduled for 11 am at the Fed-eral Palace Hotel. We were ready by 10.30am; and we waited for our future partners. Two representatives of now defunct Kingsway Stores were the first to arrive at 12.45pm and they sheepishly pleaded African time for a grievous breach of corporate etiquette. Leventis staff came next; followed by UTC Stores at 1.30pm.After their departure, my boss turned to me and asked: “Dele, you mean you actually came from this country? This place will never develop.” It was a wicked slap in the face – delivered not by my boss, but my fellow Nigerians. We returned to the US and wrote a unanimous report stating that Nigeria indeed had the potential, but it might never be realised until the people learn how to manage time better. Nearly $50 million investment in Nigeria went down with that report; and the matter was never raised again. Nigerians are still incorrigible time-wasters. No official or private functions start on time – even with the President expected. Insecurity And Time Management “Every country has the government it deserves.” John De Maistre, 1753-1821. The people in every country must be prepared to suffer the repercussions of those they elect to govern them. Government must also be ready for the conse-quences of acts of commission or omission during its tenure. Time always intrudes in the outcome of decisions made. Ignoring a seemingly minor out-break of violence, as in Borno State in 2009 and Agatu in 2016 had pitched Nigeria into the hell we are experiencing now; and which is deepening poverty. For me, two incidents – the start of Boko Haram insurgency and the immunity granted to herdsmen to commit genocide – were the major causes of our present predicaments on insecurity. The destructive results are now just being felt. Aggressors always have the advantage in any situ-ation where violent conflict is pervasive. Adolf Hitler, 1899-1945, a world class terrorist, before starting the Second World War, had pro-nounced in a book that “whoever will not be the hammer in history, will be the anvil.” Nigerian leaders, since 2009, have turned Nigeri-ans, especially in rural communities, into armless victims of aggression by well-armed terrorists and bandits. In at least three or four instances, what we now have are corpses of states – where no economic progress is impossible; and deepening poverty is assured. Here is the evidence. Zamfara Imam, three children killed after N11m ransom.” “How conflict Plateau cost herders over N300m in 2 months.” “Benue: 159 killed in 40 days; as fresh attacks claim 23.” “Gunmen block Owerri-Okigwe road, kill trav-ellers, burn several vehicles. ”As far back as 2020, the Sultan of Sokoto, Saád Abubakar III, had raised alarm that bandits were going about in the villages, households and markets without anybody challenging them. He was ignored by the Buhari government. The time between just 2020 and today has rendered most Nigerian states unsafe for any investment – even in the cities and towns. Using myself as an example, I was involved in a very large rice mill in Sokoto state from 1988 to 1990 and regretted having to leave it to return to Lagos. Today, all the money in the Central Bank would not lure me back to Sokoto State. In 1990, Sokoto state was a promising state for agro-allied industries – canned mango, tomatoes, onions, carrots, okro. I spent evenings in Sokoto Hotel discussing with other prospective investors, where to locate each of these ventures; and to make Sokoto prosperous. Today, Sokoto is the poorest state in Nigeria and getting regressively poorer because no entrepre-neur will risk his life to establish anything there. My first trip to Agatu, Benue State, was in ear-ly 1985, when the military government headed by Buhari and Idiagbon made it mandatory for com-panies in the Food and Beverages sector to start producing food items they imported or develop substitutes for them. North Brewery had acquired 20,000 hectares in Karu Local Government, Nasarawa state and we were looking for 20,000 hectares more in Agatu. A new company was formed and some manag-ers, including me, were moved to what would have been the largest agro-allied company in Nigeria. None of us declined serving in the rural areas – because they were very safe. In fact, the people in the communities around Karu took special care of us. My second trip to Agatu was in 2016, after the community was sacked by herdsmen. Buhari was once again the Head of State. Af-ter observing the carnage and government’s tacit approval of genocide, it was clear to me that no in-dustrialist would go near those places for decades to come. Three elements – time, insecurity, government’s inability to regain control – have led us to a situation in which, if a miracle does not occur, we are on the path to economic doom and destruction. Time is not on our side. Follow me on Facebook @ J Israel Biola.