The foolishness of our poverty

Footnotes
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Preambles

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The Foolishness of Our Poverty

First discussed on 12 April 2018. Updated October 2026 with current figures.

This article uses ideas from WESS (the Warrant-driven Economic and Social System). Technical words are explained in brackets the first time they appear. A numbered glossary at the bottom gives fuller explanations, so you can read straight through and still check any word.

**1. The Foolishness of Our Poverty**

Poverty is the lack of the basic things a person needs to live decently: food, clean water, shelter, electricity, clothing, health care, education, transport and a few simple comforts. In our time, a home without electricity is still counted among the poor.

The world already has the knowledge and equipment to produce all of these in plenty. About 8 billion people live on earth, and enough food is grown to feed every one of them. Hunger continues because of how food and income are shared and moved around, not because the earth cannot produce.

Food can also be stored. In the Bible, Joseph kept the harvest of seven good years to carry Egypt through seven years of famine.

That is why this article calls our poverty “foolish”. The problem is not a lack of ability or resources. It is a failure of organisation.

**2. What the World Can Already Produce**

Food. Some governments pay farmers to keep part of their land out of production because they grow more than they can sell. The United States Conservation Reserve Program is one example.

Health. Not every first-line health worker needs to be a doctor. Large numbers of nurses and community health workers can be trained to deliver primary health care¹ (the first level of care a patient meets). That frees doctors for the harder cases. Plenty of people are ready to be trained.

Housing. The next section shows that other countries have built more houses than they can fill.

**3. Empty Houses, Idle Capacity**

Spain’s national statistics office estimates about 3.8 million empty homes in the country. Some are holiday homes or unfit to live in, but the number is still very large.

China has far more. Experts’ estimates of empty or unsold homes vary widely. A range of 65 to 80 million units is often quoted as reasonable.

The lesson is that building capacity can run ahead of buyers who can pay. Economists call unused workers, land and factories idle capacity² (resources that exist but are not working). Nigeria has the opposite picture: many families need homes, and much capacity sits idle, but nothing connects the two.

**4. Money That Does Not Move**

Every country with a central bank³ (the official bank that creates and controls the national currency) already has a money supply⁴ (the total money in the economy). Money can do far more work if it moves faster. Economists call this the velocity of circulation⁵ (how many times one naira changes hands in a period).

Take a farmer and a tailor. The tailor sells a shirt to the farmer for ₦5,000. The tailor then buys rice from the farmer with the same ₦5,000. In a slow economy that money is spent once and then sits in a drawer. In a lively economy it is spent ten times in the same month. That is ten times the trade from the same money.

Economies with a lot of idle capacity can do two, three or four times the business on the same money supply. The extra spending needs extra goods and services to meet it. Section 8 explains how WESS arranges for that to happen.

**5. The Missing Link: Storing Value**

To monetise⁶ value means to turn it into something that can be stored and exchanged quickly and easily. A tailor with unsold shirts, a farmer with a good harvest and a landlord with a house all hold real value. None of them can spend it today.

The cause is partly technology (there is no tool to record and exchange such value) and partly social organisation (there are no shared rules for doing so).

WESS answers with the Market Warrant⁷, a trade instrument accepted in place of cash. A seller who accepts a warrant extends credit to the market, and the seller repays themselves by spending the warrant on other goods in the system. This is called Reciprocal Self-Repaying Trade Credit⁸ (RSTC). A Market Operator⁹ keeps the books and the rules. No one is forced to accept warrants.

The full mechanics are covered in the technical documents.

**6. The Missing Link: Organising People**

A country does not need everyone to be a manager. A small, capable and well-organised group can change its direction. Examples often cited include Western Nigeria under Obafemi Awolowo, Singapore under Lee Kuan Yew, the difference between South and North Korea, and Israel’s turning of dry land into farmland. What they share is a clear plan and a structure that carries it out.

Nigeria has abundant natural resources and enough educated people. The missing piece is a structure.

WESS provides one through three roles:

  • Program Manager¹⁰: appointed and paid by the Market Operator, and responsible for a whole sector from start to finish.
  • Value House¹¹: a competing support brand that helps its members win more work and grow. The Value House brand is never itself a party to a contract.
  • Associate¹²: the individual producer or business named on the contract, and the one primarily responsible for delivery.
**7. Rice, Cassava and the Buyer Problem**

Rice. In the early years of the rice drive that began in 2016, observers noted that farmers were moving into rice because working mills had been revived and foreign millers were taking interest. The lesson at the time was that when the local environment is managed well, investors come without being begged.

The picture in 2026 shows what that approach leaves unfinished:

  • Mills have expanded, but the USDA still expects Nigeria to import about 3.5 million tonnes of rice in 2026/27.
  • Milled output is forecast at about 5.2 million tonnes against consumption of about 9 million.
  • Paddy¹³ (unmilled rice) production is expected to fall about 6% to 8.3 million tonnes, because low paddy prices and high costs are discouraging farmers.
  • The millers’ association says local millers cannot compete with cheaper imports.
  • Bulk-rice import duty¹⁴ was cut from 70% to 47.5%.

Building mills solved one problem. Farmers still need a guaranteed buyer¹⁵ at a price that works.

Cassava. Nigeria is the world’s largest cassava producer, at about 60 million tonnes in 2018 against Thailand’s 31 million. By weight that is many times the rice crop. Yet yields are below 10 tonnes per hectare, and over 90% of the crop is eaten at home. Cassava has many uses: food, starch, animal feed and industrial products. Huge raw output without guaranteed processors and buyers leaves value on the table.

**8. How WESS Closes the Gap**

CoNPro¹⁶ is a countrywide production programme. It aims to produce everything the economy needs to reach its full potential, including housing, farms, vehicles, clothing, hospitals, schools, electronics and adult retraining.

It works through the OPC loop¹⁷ (Ordered, Produced, Consumed). A Program Manager places the order, Value Houses and Associates produce, and the output is consumed. Producers are paid in Market Warrants, which makes them buyers in turn. Because orders come first, every producer has a buyer before production starts. That is the answer to the rice and cassava problem.

Mobilising what is missing. WESS does not wait for idle workers, land, factories, foreign technology and foreign capital to turn up. CoNPro orders bring them into work. A foreign investor or supplier chooses between two routes:

  1. Be paid in Market Warrants for what they supply.
  2. Contribute goods, equipment or technology as capital in kind¹⁸ and receive Investment Warrants¹⁹, which can be used to acquire equity or debt share capital in any WESS-capitalised business.

The result is that extra spending meets extra supply, instead of chasing a fixed amount of goods and pushing prices up. This is the design aim of the system, and the technical documents set out how it is carried out.

**9. Questions for Discussion**
  1. Which of the basic needs in section 1 is hardest to supply where you live, and why?
  2. Where have you seen capacity (a factory, a farm, a skilled worker) sit idle for lack of a buyer?
  3. Would you accept a warrant in place of cash if you were sure you could spend it on goods you need?
  4. Which sector would you like to see a Program Manager and Value Houses take on first?
**10. Glossary and Sources**

Glossary

  1. Primary health care: the first level of care, such as clinics, nurses and community health workers, where most health problems are handled.
  2. Idle capacity: workers without jobs, land not in use and factories running below their ability.
  3. Central bank: the official bank that issues the national currency and manages its supply.
  4. Money supply: the total amount of money circulating in an economy.
  5. Velocity of circulation: how many times a unit of money is spent in a given period. Higher velocity means more trade from the same money.
  6. Monetise: to turn something of value into a form that can be stored and exchanged easily.
  7. Market Warrant: a trade instrument accepted instead of cash. Its nominal term is a 10-year bill of exchange (a written promise to pay).
  8. Reciprocal Self-Repaying Trade Credit (RSTC): credit given by the seller who accepts a warrant instead of cash. The seller repays themselves by spending the warrant on other goods in the system.
  9. Market Operator: the body that runs the WESS market, keeps its records and sets its rules.
  10. Program Manager: a franchisee appointed and paid by the Market Operator, responsible for an entire sector from start to finish.
  11. Value House: a franchise brand that supports and competes for Associates. It helps them win and deliver work but is not a party to their contracts.
  12. Associate: an individual producer or business named on a contract and primarily responsible for delivering it.
  13. Paddy: harvested rice before milling.
  14. Import duty: a tax charged on goods brought into the country.
  15. Guaranteed buyer (off-take): a promise that someone will buy the output, so the producer can plan and invest.
  16. CoNPro: a countrywide production programme to produce everything the economy needs to reach its full potential.
  17. OPC (Ordered, Produced, Consumed): the core production loop of WESS. The order comes first, then production, then consumption.
  18. Capital in kind: contributing goods, equipment, technology or services as capital instead of cash.
  19. Investment Warrant: a warrant issued only for capital received in kind. It is valid for acquiring equity (ownership shares) or debt share capital in any partly or fully WESS-capitalised business.

Sources

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Version 2.

The Foolishness of Our Poverty

First discussed on 12 April 2018. Updated October 2026 with current figures.

This article uses ideas from WESS (the Warrant-driven Economic and Social System). Technical words are explained in brackets the first time they appear. A numbered glossary at the bottom gives fuller explanations, so you can read straight through and still check any word.

**1. The Foolishness of Our Poverty**

Poverty is the lack of the basic things a person needs to live decently: food, clean water, shelter, electricity, clothing, health care, education, transport and a few simple comforts. In our time, a home without electricity is still counted among the poor.

The world already has the knowledge and equipment to produce all of these in plenty. About 8 billion people live on earth, and enough food is grown to feed every one of them. Hunger continues because of how food and income are shared and moved around, not because the earth cannot produce.

Food can also be stored. In the Bible, Joseph kept the harvest of seven good years to carry Egypt through seven lean ones. Seven years is the least that story needed. The good harvests were not equal, and grain from the first year could not be touched until year eight at the earliest. Airtight (hermetic) storage¹ today commonly keeps grain for two to three years, and documented cases reach about ten years. Planning for long storage is realistic.

That is why this article calls our poverty “foolish”. The problem is not a lack of ability or resources. It is a failure of organisation.

People of faith put it this way. God gave us very high intelligence, free of charge. A giver is never happy to see a gift wasted, and it is hard to believe God is happy to see such intelligence and capacity wasted.

**2. What the World Can Already Produce**

Food. Some governments have even paid farmers to stop producing, because supply was running ahead of demand. In 1956 the United States created the Soil Bank, which paid farmers to take land out of production. It retired 28.7 million acres on about 306,000 farms, roughly 6% of ploughed land. Its successor, the Conservation Reserve Program, began in 1985. It pays farmers under voluntary 10 to 15 year contracts, and enrolment peaked at more than 36 million acres in 2007. These programmes aimed both to protect soil and to ease crop surpluses.

Health. Not every first-line health worker needs to be a doctor. Large numbers of nurses and community health workers can be trained to deliver primary health care² (the first level of care a patient meets). That frees doctors for the harder cases. Plenty of people are ready to be trained.

Housing. The next section shows that other countries have built more houses than they can fill.

**3. Empty Houses, Idle Capacity**

Spain’s national statistics office estimates about 3.8 million empty homes in the country. Some are holiday homes or unfit to live in, but the number is still very large.

China has far more. Experts’ estimates of empty or unsold homes vary widely. A range of 65 to 80 million units is often quoted as reasonable.

The lesson is that building capacity can run ahead of buyers who can pay. Economists call unused workers, land and factories idle capacity³ (resources that exist but are not working).

Nigeria shows the opposite picture. It is short of about 20 million housing units (estimates vary), and much capacity sits idle. Nothing connects the two.

**4. Money That Does Not Move**

Every country with a central bank⁴ (the official bank that creates and controls the national currency) already has a money supply⁵ (the total money in the economy). Money can do far more work if it moves faster. Economists call this the velocity of circulation⁶ (how many times one naira changes hands in a period).

Take a farmer and a tailor. In a slow economy, a ₦5,000 note is spent once in the month and then sits in a drawer. That is ₦5,000 of trade. In a lively economy, the same note is spent ten times in the same month. That is ₦50,000 of trade from the same money.

Economies with a lot of idle capacity can do two, three or four times the business on the same money supply. The extra spending needs extra goods and services to meet it. Section 8 explains how WESS arranges for that to happen.

**5. The Missing Link: Storing Value**

To monetise⁷ value means to turn it into something that can be stored and exchanged quickly and easily. A tailor with unsold shirts, a farmer with a good harvest and a landlord with a house all hold real value. None of them can spend it today.

The cause is partly technology (there is no tool to record and exchange such value) and partly social organisation (there are no shared rules for doing so).

WESS answers with the Market Warrant⁸, a trade instrument accepted in place of cash. A seller who accepts a warrant extends credit to the market, and the seller repays themselves by spending the warrant on other goods in the system. This is called Reciprocal Self-Repaying Trade Credit⁹ (RSTC). A Market Operator¹⁰ keeps the books and the rules. No one is forced to accept warrants.

The full mechanics are covered in the technical documents.

**6. The Missing Link: Organising People**

A country does not need everyone to be a manager. A small, capable and well-organised group can change its direction. Examples often cited include Western Nigeria under Obafemi Awolowo, Singapore under Lee Kuan Yew, the difference between South and North Korea, and Israel’s turning of dry land into farmland. What they share is a clear plan and a structure that carries it out.

People have run countries with far fewer resources than Nigeria and created immense wealth. Such people exist inside Nigeria and outside it. WESS does not mind where they come from. It will use their capacity and pay them commercial returns, by appointing them as Program Managers or licensing them as Value Houses.

WESS provides the structure through three roles:

Role Appointed or licensed by Main job How they are paid
Program Manager¹¹ The Market Operator Responsible for a whole sector from start to finish. Places the orders, scores every contractor’s performance, and settles disputes that cannot be resolved otherwise. Directly by the Market Operator
Value House¹² The Market Operator (a franchise licence) Supports its member Associates and competes with other Value Houses to help them win work and grow. The Value House brand is never itself a party to a contract. A commission, paid in ways that vary by sector
Associate¹³ Joins a Value House The individual producer or business named on the contract and primarily responsible for delivering the work. For work delivered, in Market Warrants
**7. Rice, Cassava and the Buyer Problem**

Rice. In the early years of the rice drive that began in 2016, observers noted that farmers were moving into rice because working mills had been revived and foreign millers were taking interest. The lesson at the time was that when the local environment is managed well, investors come without being begged.

The picture in 2026 shows what that approach leaves unfinished:

  • Mills have expanded, but the USDA still expects Nigeria to import about 3.5 million tonnes of rice in 2026/27.
  • Milled output is forecast at about 5.2 million tonnes against consumption of about 9 million.
  • Paddy¹⁴ (unmilled rice) production is expected to fall about 6% to 8.3 million tonnes, because low paddy prices and high costs are discouraging farmers.
  • The millers’ association says local millers cannot compete with cheaper imports.
  • Bulk-rice import duty¹⁵ was cut from 70% to 47.5%.

Building mills solved one problem. Farmers still need a guaranteed buyer¹⁶ at a price that works.

Cassava. Nigeria is the world’s largest cassava producer, at about 60 million tonnes in 2018 against Thailand’s 31 million. By weight that is many times the rice crop. Yet yields are below 10 tonnes per hectare, and over 90% of the crop is eaten at home. Cassava has many uses: food, starch, animal feed and industrial products. Huge raw output without guaranteed processors and buyers leaves value on the table.

**8. How WESS Closes the Gap**

CoNPro¹⁷ is a countrywide production programme. It aims to produce everything the economy needs to reach its full potential. That includes housing and civil construction (roads, bridges and similar works), farms, vehicles, clothing, hospitals, schools, electronics and adult retraining.

Housing. CoNPro builds houses in every state, every local government area and every ward. The aim is an average of 2 million houses a year. Of these, about 1 million would go into six new cities built from scratch. The six cities are one part of the housing programme and do not replace building elsewhere. The reasoning is simple. Nigeria’s shortfall is about 20 million homes, and the population is young, so demand keeps growing. Even at 2 million a year, the shortfall would grow. New cities where every house is new give the programme a real chance of clearing it.

The OPC loop¹⁸ (Ordered, Produced, Consumed). A Program Manager places the order, Value Houses and Associates produce, and the output is consumed. Producers are paid in Market Warrants, which makes them buyers in turn. Because orders come first, every producer has a buyer before production starts. That is the answer to the rice and cassava problem.

Mobilising what is missing. WESS does not wait for idle workers, land, factories, foreign technology and foreign capital to turn up. CoNPro orders bring them into work. An investor or supplier, local or foreign, chooses between two routes:

  1. Be paid in Market Warrants for what they supply.
  2. Contribute goods, equipment or technology as capital in kind¹⁹ and receive Investment Warrants²⁰. These can be used to acquire equity (ownership shares) or debt share capital in any WESS-capitalised business.

A Franco²¹ issues the Investment Warrants. For example, an owner has a machine worth ₦100 million and does not want to sell it, but wants to use it as capital in several businesses. The Franco issues ₦100 million of Investment Warrants for it. To be licensed to do this, the Franco puts up cash collateral²². With ₦10 million of cash it may issue up to ₦100 million of warrants (the multiple is an illustration and can be changed). So the warrants are backed by 10% cash plus 100% of the machine’s value, 110% in all. If no business will take the machine at that value, the risk is the Franco’s, not the owner’s. When a business accepts the warrants and issues shares, the Franco’s ability to issue is restored. Businesses can then raise capital by the value available, not only by the cash available.

Foreign cash. A foreign investor can put cash directly into a business outside WESS. Or the investor can buy Market Warrants with it, and use them to buy shares in a WESS-capitalised business. Foreign investors who bring machinery, specialised equipment, expertise or intellectual property fit capital in kind best. Such things cannot be freely sold on the open market and need an expert to understand their value.

Local rice. WESS will pay a fair market price to local producers even when they are not yet competitive with imports. It can add support in two ways:

  • Special warrants valid only for local rice. For example, instead of paying ₦75 in cash for a ₦100 warrant, a buyer pays ₦60, ₦55 or ₦50 for a warrant valid only for local rice. That is a subsidy (help with the price) that the Market Operator can set at whatever level it chooses. The Half-Price Programme works in a similar way, with the cash share rising as purchases grow (the figures are illustrations).
  • Market rules. WESS can choose not to accept imported rice in its own market, so anyone who wants imported rice pays cash. WESS does not control what happens outside its own market. It does decide who receives the subsidies its market gives out.

The result. Extra spending meets extra supply, instead of chasing a fixed amount of goods and pushing prices up. This is the design aim of the system, and the technical documents set out how it is carried out.

**9. Frequently Asked Questions**

Is WESS just printing money?
No. A Market Warrant is a trade instrument accepted in place of cash. It does not add naira to the economy. As the system’s own line puts it:

The system circulates money without using money — value flows via credit, not currency.

Won’t extra spending just push prices up?
It would if there were no extra goods. The design aim is to prevent that. Orders come first (the OPC loop), so production is committed before the spending arrives. CoNPro also brings idle workers, land and factories into work.

Isn’t paying more for local rice an unfair subsidy?
It is an open subsidy, and it is deliberate. The Market Operator can adjust it and applies it only inside the WESS market. No one outside that market is forced to follow it.

Why would foreign investors come?
Because the options are wide. They can invest directly, buy Market Warrants, or contribute machinery, expertise or intellectual property as capital in kind. The last route suits those whose assets cannot easily be sold on the open market.

Who is responsible if a project fails?
The Associate named on the contract carries primary responsibility. Program Managers score every contractor’s performance. A Value House brand supports its members, but it is not a party to their contracts.

Can 2 million houses a year clear a shortfall of 20 million?
Not on its own, because the young population keeps adding to the need. That is why the plan includes six new cities built from scratch, on top of houses in every state, local government area and ward.

Does anyone have to use warrants?
No. No one is forced to accept them.

**10. Questions for Discussion**
  1. Which of the basic needs in section 1 is hardest to supply where you live, and why?
  2. Where have you seen capacity (a factory, a farm, a skilled worker) sit idle for lack of a buyer?
  3. Would you accept a warrant in place of cash if you were sure you could spend it on goods you need?
  4. Which sector would you like to see a Program Manager and Value Houses take on first?
**11. Glossary and Sources**

Glossary

  1. Hermetic (airtight) storage: keeping grain in sealed containers or pits so air, moisture and insects cannot get in.
  2. Primary health care: the first level of care, such as clinics, nurses and community health workers, where most health problems are handled.
  3. Idle capacity: workers without jobs, land not in use and factories running below their ability.
  4. Central bank: the official bank that issues the national currency and manages its supply.
  5. Money supply: the total amount of money circulating in an economy.
  6. Velocity of circulation: how many times a unit of money is spent in a given period. Higher velocity means more trade from the same money.
  7. Monetise: to turn something of value into a form that can be stored and exchanged easily.
  8. Market Warrant: a trade instrument accepted in place of cash. Its nominal term is a 10-year bill of exchange (a written promise to pay).
  9. Reciprocal Self-Repaying Trade Credit (RSTC): credit given by the seller who accepts a warrant instead of cash. The seller repays themselves by spending the warrant on other goods in the system.
  10. Market Operator: the body that runs the WESS market, keeps its records and sets its rules.
  11. Program Manager: a franchisee appointed and paid by the Market Operator, responsible for an entire sector from start to finish.
  12. Value House: a franchise brand that supports and competes for Associates. It helps them win and deliver work but is not a party to their contracts.
  13. Associate: an individual producer or business named on a contract and primarily responsible for delivering it.
  14. Paddy: harvested rice before milling.
  15. Import duty: a tax charged on goods brought into the country.
  16. Guaranteed buyer (off-take): a promise that someone will buy the output, so the producer can plan and invest.
  17. CoNPro (Consolidated National Production Programme): a countrywide programme to produce everything the economy needs to reach its full potential, including housing, civil construction, farms, vehicles, clothing, hospitals, schools, electronics and retraining.
  18. OPC (Ordered, Produced, Consumed): the core production loop of WESS. The order comes first, then production, then consumption.
  19. Capital in kind: contributing goods, equipment, technology or expertise as capital instead of cash.
  20. Investment Warrant: a warrant issued only for capital received in kind. It is valid for acquiring equity (ownership shares) or debt share capital in any partly or fully WESS-capitalised business.
  21. Franco: a franchise licensed to issue Investment Warrants. A Franco is a middleman, so that businesses can raise capital by the value of assets available and not only by the cash available.
  22. Cash collateral: cash set aside as security. It limits how many Investment Warrants a Franco may issue (for example, ₦10 million of cash allows up to ₦100 million of warrants; the multiple is an illustration and can be changed).

Sources