There has been growing concerns about the President
Muhammadu Buhari led Nigerian Governments handling of the economy. At the
moment, there seems to be no clear cut economic blueprint for which government
policies are framed. It appears to me that every minister is working by
intuition without any economic guiding principle. The President is yet to appoint his Chief Economic
adviser, have an economic management team or a think tank that meets regularly
to discuss what is on ground, what measures needed to be put in place to
address them quickly. It is like the focus is all about looking for thieves,
catching them, and recovering what they have stolen. This is good and fair
enough. After the President has finished the recovery of the looted funds, what
next and how will the looted funds be channeled into the economy to benefit the
ordinary Nigerian?
What the ordinary Nigerian is interested in is food on his
table, good school for his children, good medical care and shelter and security
of life and property. In any economy, the goal of macro economic policy is to
achieve full employment of resources, balance growth, stable prices of goods
and services; and a stable currency through a healthy balance of payment. As it
is today, all four macro economic indices are pointing south. This government
seems not to understand or know what to do to address the situation. The
government does not need to go too far to know what to do.
Nigeria has several
development research documents that speak of ways to better manage the economy.
But the problem has always been that leaders are often not focused enough to
implement them faithfully. In most countries today, the economics of the middle
class has taken the center stage. This is because if the middle class is doing
well, the purchasing power in the hand of this class will make the economy to
grow. When in 1986, General Babangida introduced the famous Structural
Adjustment Programme (SAP), it was with good intention. But half way down the
line of implementation, the programme was derailed by Nigerians who kept crying
of the hardship the programme was putting the nation through.
President
Babangida before coming up with SAP had a retinue of very bright minds as his
advisers. Babangida had a team then that was called the Presidential Economic
Advisory Council. This body was busy preparing documents and seeking informed
opinion from operators in the private sector. He went to the point of
instituting what was then known as Corporate Nigeria — a yearly gathering of
captains of industry to tap their knowledge of the economy before any policy
initiative. When
President Olusegun Obasanjo became the President, the economy
was near its knees. He realised that he could not manage the economy all by
himself. He appointed Professor Chukwuma Soludo as his Chief Economic Adviser
and set up an economic management team. The team went to work and prepared a
document called the NEEDS. It was the second of its kind to SAP. The document
was the basis on which the nation was able to secure a debt relief from the
Paris and London clubs of creditors. In fact it became the Policy Support
Instrument for which the International Monetary Fund IMF, based its monitoring
and evaluation of the economy on. Nigerians’ expectation was that the next
government after Obasanjo would take the economy to the next level.
President
Umaru Yar ‘Adua came up with 7-Point Agenda and Jonathan the Transformation
Agenda. They were mere slogans without content or direction. President Umaru Yar’Adua followed with the
appointment of Tanimu as his Economic Adviser. He again had his economic team.
All his appointees followed the seven point agenda. The immediate past
President had his team and his economic slogan was Transformation. Buhari and
his team must realise that they do not yet have a coherent, credible agenda
that is consistent with the fundamentals of the economy as it stands today.
What the government has been saying contains some good principles and
wish-lists, but as a blue print for Nigeria’s security and prosperity, it is
largely ineffective. The President should for the sake of Nigerians who voted
him to power present a credible development agenda to Nigerians. What the
President must know is that the fundamental challenge of his government on the
economy is how to set economic objective of creating ten to twelve million jobs
over the next four years to have a dent on the ever growing unemployment and
poverty in the country.
The real challenge is to craft a development agenda to
deliver dividends of democracy within the context of broken public finance, and
an economy in which painful structural adjustments will be inevitable if
current trends in oil prices continue. Mr. President must come to terms with
the fact that programmes such as war on corruption, security, power,
infrastructure, etc, are instruments to
achieving the macro economic objective of full employment. As it appears, this
government seems to be disoriented and unorganised in the economic front.
What
is the economic slogan of this administration? What is the economic direction
of government ministries, departments and agencies? All we hear is war against
corruption, I will not devalue the naira, we will invest in agriculture, and we
will invest in solid minerals. So far, there is no policy direction toward
these sectors. This government campaigned on the basis of stimulating the economy.
Buhari’s stimulus strategy as of now is not focusing on cherry-picking projects
that can create jobs almost instantaneously, as well as on programs that can
deliver immediate returns to Nigerians. It is now all out war on corruption.
The projects and programs this administration should get into include
infrastructure, education, health, and energy. It is a shame that nine months
into the life of this administration, these sectors are yet to feel the
presence of this administration. The budget is riddled with confusion and yet
to be passed. Almost one year is gone with little to show for it on the
economy. The President has already reneged on his unemployment benefits he
promised during his campaign to pay N5, 000 unemployment benefits to Nigerians
and other social welfare provisions. The informal sector in
Nigeria is very
vibrant, with millions of underemployed youths. This ought to be one sector
this government of change should concentrate on to unleash its potential on the
economy. This sector ultimately will generate employment opportunities. This
government should wake up and face the task of reconstructing the Nigerian
economy; period.
Source:
Omoh Gabriel/Vanguard
