The present regime of President Muhammadu Buhari will in 28 days mark one year at the helm of affairs of the largest black nation on the planet. In few days shortly after the euphoria of workers’ day celebration, many pundits both friends and foes of Nigeria will try to give a scorecard of the performance of President Buhari, especially his economic policies which is rightly termed “Buharimonics”, but a renowned chartered accounted in the person of Oby Ezekwesili, a former minister of education is in no mood to wait, she has already adjudged Buhari’s economic policies as “archaic”, that is in her own opinion.
In her recent postulations regarding the direction of the economic policies of the present regime, one fact that can be deduced from her opinion is that this time, she did not speak as an economist, she obviously spoke as a politician, giving no prove or concrete evidence backing up her stance, a point which will immediately be used to dismiss her opinion as an “unclear Elitist Summary”.
In her exact words on Saturday at The Platform, a yearly programme organized by Covenant Christian Center, Ezekwesili lamented the economic situation of the country.
She said the effect of the policies have been detrimental to the masses.
“What did not work in 1984 cannot possibly be a solution in a global economy that’s much more integrated,” she said.
Read also: Ezekwesili Faults Buharimonics, Says It’s ‘archaic’
“During the first coming of this our new president, a command and control economic system was adopted, and inflation spiraled, jobs were lost and the economic growth level dipped.
“In over one year, the president is still holding to the premise that command and control is the only way out, and we have lost the single digits inflation status we maintained in past administrations.
“The weakest and the most vulnerable suffer the impact of inflation the most. Enormous power is being abused as a result of archaic and opaque economic policies.”
Those were her exact words in describing Buharimonics, but was she speaking as an economist or a politician? Maybe the later, because I know economists in trying to make their points back them up with logical evidence and facts, a feature clearly missing from her analysis.
Remote and immediate Causes of Present Economic Woes
It is fitting at this point to critically look at the factors leading to present economic situation of the country, while it is cheap to easily put the blame on the present government, it is equally honorable to critically understand how we got to this point.
Before the present government came into power, Nigeria was at a brink of collapse as a result of impunity, brazen looting, and wild spread corruption that led to loss of billions of dollars. The past administration failed Nigeria and Nigerians in many ways which the effect can be felt years after its ouster.
It is no more secrete how the past regime took advantage of the insurgence to divert funds which is supposed to be used in prosecuting the war, this has lingered the security situation of the country to this day.
The power situation in the country was also in comatose when this government came into power as they inherited less than 2000 megawatts.
On the immediate cause of the present economic situation, the fall in oil price globally has thrown most countries into economic crises including Nigeria. When this government came into power, crude oil price was pegged at $60 per barrel, but will soon afterwards slide below $40 per barrel.
Nigeria is an oil dependent country, and with our only exporting commodity loosing market value, it is natural that its negative effects will impact on all sectors of the economy. This fact does not need an economist to explain, and in any constructive criticism against this regime, this point should not be missed, as clearly shown by our renowned chartered accountant in her criticism.
What the government has done to ameliorate the economic situation
Having inherited a baggage of challenges when they came into power such as insecurity, power issues, unemployment, deteriorating healthcare system, corruption etc, President Buhari knew he is in for serious business. Let us take a look at what he has put in place for a sustainable economy:
- Diversification of economy: With oil losing its market value, Nigeria got caught in a web of uncertainty. Looking beyond oil became a necessary step which the government has done effectively. This can be seen in the government’s efforts to raise entrepreneurs through programs such as the YES program. This is put in place to make Nigerian youths self-reliant, thereby creating jobs in other sectors such as information and communication technology, agriculture, manufacturing, skill acquisition and capacity building. The government has also been specific about investing heavily in agriculture, as that is a sure way to sustain a long term plan of improving Nigeria’s economy.
- Full implementation of TSA: There has been some debates in the past on who originated the policy of a treasury single account (TSA), while it is a general consensus that it was a product of the past regime, all credit must be given to the present government for the full implementation of the laudable policy. TSA has helped the administration to have a firm and full control of its resources, blocking leakages, assisting it to reduce the cost of borrowing and to monitor spending in the MDAs and has so far accounted for a total savings of about 2.7 trillion naira.
Read also: Presidency Replies Oby Ezekwesili’s Criticism As An “unclear Elitist Summary”
- Forex policy and stance on “made in Nigeria products”: Oby Ezekwesili made mention of “command and control” which I believe was motivated in the President’s resolve to control the spending habits of Nigerians through the regulation of the dollar flow in the country. While she criticized the forex policy, she did not mention the need to consume locally made goods, which is in the Centre of the present forex policy. The president made it clear that whatever we cannot import as a result of the “dollar crunch”, let us produce locally. This policy on the long run will position Nigeria as a producing nation rather than a consumer of imports.
- Fight against corruption: Perhaps the biggest threat to national development, the present regime has done well in curbing the menace, but exactly how Oby Ezekwesili got her theory of Buharimonics encouraging corruption is what is difficult to understand. Well she did not back any of her points with any logical evidence, so her claims can be rightly dismissed as an “unclear Elitist Summary”.
It should be noted that Nigeria is currently facing a lot of economic challenges, but in the process of proffering a solution, there could be sacrifices that every Nigerian should make such as forfeiting luxury, buying more of Nigerian made goods, de-emphasizing white collar jobs for agriculture and entrepreneurship as well as support the fight against corruption no matter whose ass is gored.
Every government needs constructive criticism to succeed, but when politics takes the place of economics, it becomes a case of misplaced priority. As economic experts will soon take over the space giving a one year scorecard to the performance of President Muhammadu Buhari, it is honorable to do so in good fate with logical evidence in order to avoid another case of “unclear Elitist Summary”.