Holidaying While Nigeria Decays?

By Reno Omokri

For a nation that has already had one quarter of negative economic growth and is in danger of having another negative quarter (which would invariably put us officially in a recession), I was shocked, like many right thinking people, when the Federal Government extended the Eid-el-Fitr holidays which had initially been declared for Tuesday the 5th and Wednesday the 6th of July, 2016 to now include Thursday the 7th of July.

*President Buhari and his wife, Aisha

This record three day holiday effectively rendered the week beginning on Sunday July 3rd, 2016, a wasted week because Nigerians would naturally spend Monday the 4th preparing for the holiday and no right thinking person would expect any serious business to hold on Friday the 8th after the whole nation had been on holiday for the three days prior to that.

The economic implication of this decision is that when the Gross Domestic production of the third quarter of 2016 is being calculated, Nigeria would not be able to count on any meaningful production for one business week.

Flowing from the above, no one needs a crystal ball to predict that Nigeria is headed for another round of negative economic growth when the next quarterly GDP data is unveiled.

Yet this is the same country where 18,000 babies are born everyday and it is doubtful that up to 1,800 new jobs are created everyday. With this grim statistic, no one around the President thought it wise to advise him against making the small percentage of Nigerians who are employed to be underemployed by at least one week because of a holiday.

Is it that we do not understand the economic implications of our actions and how they effect the financial and economic well being of our nation?

Nigeria should be doing everything it can to ensure that it does not have consecutive periods of negative economic growth for the simple reason that having an economy in recession would lead to our economy being further downgraded. The implication of a downgraded economy is that we will not be able to attract the level of Foreign Direct Investment we need to drive growth. Further implications are that we would only be able to access credit at higher interest rates. The resultant effect of that would be loss of value in our stock exchange and a downward pressure on the value of the Naira (further devaluation) and when that happens, it would mean more people out of work and a worsening of Nigeria's Human Development Index.

The question is this-aren't there people around President Muhammadu Buhari who can explain this to him? Should Nigeria be holidaying while Rome burns?

Buhari And The Tragedy Of Politics

By Abiodun Komolafe

“He who knows no hardships will know no hardihood. He who faces no calamity will need no courage. Mysterious though it is, the characteristics in human nature which we love best grow in a soil with a strong mixture of troubles.”
– Harry Emerson Fosdick.

*Buhari 

I am a professed and an active Buharist and I am glad I made a wise choice! Impliedly, given the opportunity again, I will not hesitate to repeat my preference for Muhammadu Buhari as Nigeria’s president.

With that said, one cannot but be worried about the direction in which Nigeria is headed. That there is a cloud of darkness surrounding the country is no longer in doubt. No thanks to the impunity of the Jonathanians which turned her into a veiled entity, unworthy of incense.

As things stand, Nigeria’s foundation is not only threatened with predictable consequences, its economy is also castrated. The masses are in total hardship, toiling and suffering; and it seems as if the spirit of Saul is pursuing our David! In this ‘fantastically corrupt’ country, demigods and untouchables in high places who once stole Nigeria blind are using Nigeria’s money to torment Nigeria. And it is as if their Cain is plotting to assassinate our Abel! Civil servants are living in avoidable stress and agony; and it’s as if the Pharaoh which knew Joseph has passed! Though we seek to behave as a country run by laws, there’s an increase in electricity tariff without any corresponding increase in its availability. As if to compound our woes, our intelligence system has become so weak that criminals’ propensity to succeed in their acts has increased. As such, rather than collaborate, our security agencies find it more convenient to compete for recognition and attention.

A recently-released Livelihoods and Economic Recovery Assessment 2016 report on the North-East of Nigeria is not only revealingly disturbing, it is also symptomatic of a looming disaster unless urgent steps are taken to reset the button of Nigeria’s socio-economic situations. According to the report, unveiled by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in partnership with Oxfam Nigeria, “46 per cent of households in that part of the country borrow money to buy food; one economically active member of a household sustains 2.3 non-active members, while a majority of them do not have sufficient food supply.” It did not end there: “41 per cent rely on alternative health care, 21 per cent have migrated to other locations, while 20 per cent send their children out to work and beg. 11 per cent support a member with a mental or physical disability, while 21 per cent include, at least, one member with a chronic illness.”