By Uzoma Ngozi
Nigeria’s overdependence on oil is one
reality that President Buhari’s government has to grapple with if it will
survive the crash in the global oil prices. The good news is that every
challenge posed to this administration is a prospect for them to make a change,
just as they promised during the presidential campaign.
However, it seems that this government has no clue on how
to fix the economy. The incompetence of Buhari’s economic team is instantly
apparent as the economic system is on the verge of collapsing; inflation is on
the rise, purchasing power is very low, unemployment is high, the country is in
gross darkness and it seems like Nigerians have already lost hope in this
government.
The best word to depict an economic system led by Buhari
and his team without a pattern is to refer to it as “Buharinomy.” To borrow the
words of Prof. Utomi, Buhari is indeed operating an “archaic and medieval kind
of economic system.”
Despite the pathetic situation of the economy, his
economic team has been mum about the present state of affairs. And instead of
the president to accept the responsibility of giving direction to the economy,
he keeps blaming the immediate past administration for the present economic
woes. He forgets the word of the German author Eckhart Tolle that says, “Discontent,
blaming, complaining, self-pity cannot serve as a foundation for a good future,
no matter how much effort you take.”
There is no basis to compare the Buharinomy and the
economy of the past administration because the economic policies of the
immediate past administration were direct and had a human face to it.
One technocrat that made a difference in the past
administration was the former Minister of Finance and coordinating minister of
the economy who helped in charting a cause for the economy. Although the
administration had its own challenges, she put policies in place that helped
cushion the hardship known to the ordinary man in the country.
