The gospel of free markets
In 1980, the late Milton Friedman, a University of Chicago economist, published his famous book, “FREE TO CHOOSE” accompanied by a follow-up documentary series, of the same name. This work became the “Bible” for market purists, who believed that society’s welfare was better served by market forces and that the market possessed the best tools for allocating resources.
Friedman’s framework was widely acknowledged as the theoretical foundation for U.S. President Ronald Reagan and U.K. Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher’s reform policies. They served as the reform manual for their respective economic policies and influenced many others throughout the 1980s.
The documentary series was particularly effective in illustrating the pitfalls of well-intended government welfare policies. It showed how heavy government intervention and bureaucracy often caused these programmes to stall or fail outright. One notable example was the U.K.’s Council Housing policy, which delivered far less than promised. The state of these council flats proved that when the government owns it, no one owns it. When this sense of ownership is lacking, maintenance inevitably collapses turning them into a slum.
Nigeria’s own 1004 Estate, in Victoria Island, Lagos, served as a similar example before its eventual privatisation. It was becoming a slum amidst the opulence of the Victoria Island neighbourhood. It has improved dramatically since privatisation.
Lately, questions have surfaced regarding why market policies appear to be failing in Nigeria. While many accept that current reforms are the only way out of our economic crisis, the delay in tangible results has led many to question the validity of the premise itself.
Pain of reforms and analogy of surgery.
Reforms inevitably come with pain, but that pain should not be permanent. In a recent forum debate, an analogy was made of a patient requiring urgent surgery for a life-threatening ailment. The process was described in stages: stabilisation, surgery, healing, and rehabilitation. Each of these steps requires adequate attention to ensure the patient does not leave the hospital in worse shape than when they arrived. Every step of a national reform must be meticulously thought out, and those executing it must be competent at every stage.
Cracks in the market promise.
Two widely shared social media posts recently brought these questions to the forefront. The first was a piece by Professor Pat Utomi, formerly of the Lagos Business School.
A prominent “Market Apostle,” Utomi openly admitted he is no longer comfortable with the assumption that liberalisation naturally leads to growth and prosperity for all.
He cited his experience with the financial services liberalisation and privatisation of the 1990s in Nigeria especially in banking — where a few became stupendously wealthy while the masses suffered. The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) was blamed for turning bank licenses into a “bazaar,” ignoring Nigeria’s stage of economic development. This era saw 89 banks and several finance companies established, only for many to collapse, causing massive unemployment, disruption to the economy and the destruction of personal wealth.
Professor Utomi pointed to the Oxford professor, Joseph Stiglitz’s characterisation of the IMF as a “debt collector” for Wall Street banks.
He now views stabilisation outcomes as akin to a Ponzi scheme, freeing up frozen credit lines to create an illusion of vitality while offering little in the way of genuine entrepreneurship or market efficiency.
The failure of regulation: The MM2 example
The second viral post, featured a young man complaining about the sudden spike in MM2 Airport car park fees — rising from ₦300 a few years ago to ₦3,500 today. This fee is charged even for a seven-minute pickup, because no “off-ramp” for Pick ups exists for arriving passengers, at that airport.
This is also after a toll is paid at the International Airport end, just to reach the MM2 terminal.
Meanwhile, FAAN has doubled its own fees at its Tollgates while still manually selling paper tickets in 2026.
Standard airports worldwide, such as JFK in New York or George Bush Intercontinental in Houston, provide off-ramps for pickups and drop-offs. Even at London’s Heathrow, where tolls exist, passengers have viable alternatives like trains, buses, or taxis. The airport taxi option available in MM2, starts at N25k – N30k to get to the Island.
The failure to provide an off-ramp at MM2 is unacceptable. It is a “rent-collecting” mentality where the private sector behaves exactly like a predatory government, forcing users into a car park to charge 10x of the original fee, for a carpark built over a decade ago and a fully depreciated facility, this is a clear example of regulatory failure. And a key reason why market policies fail in Nigeria.
If the FAAN and the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC) were alive to their duties, such exploitation would not happen. Their obsession with fee collection and playing police, has made consumer protection a secondary concern.
Market policies do not fail in Nigeria because they are inherently “bad.” They fail, because we lack the institutional capacity, the necessary regulatory frameworks, and at times, the sincerity of purpose behind the policies.
Unless we build the support structures required for markets to function, we will continue to chase results that never arrive.
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Victor Ogiemwonyi, a retired investment banker, is a former Governing Council member of the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE), now Nigerian Exchange Group (NGX Group). He sent this contribution from Ikoyi, Lagos. He can be reached via comment@businessamlive.com and marketconversations.substack.com
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