By Omoh Gabriel
In this column in August last year, I had cause to
ask how far President Buhari can go in managing a tough economy. There has been
growing concerns about this government’s 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.
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| *President Buhari |
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
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 Babagida before coming up with SAP had a
retinue of very bright minds as his advisers. Babagida 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
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
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
-- This piece was first published in the Vanguard
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