In the maiden address of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to Nigerians at the Eagle Square on the 29th May, 2023, the President did not mince words. He vowed to accord special attention to the economy. He announced the end to the subsidy regime as well as the harmonization of the foreign exchange markets. A couple of days later, he signed into law a bill deregulating the power sector.
For earnestly deregulating three key sectors of the economy, PBAT did not leave anyone in doubt as to the direction his economic policies would take. He gave a clear signal to the people that a paradigm shift was inevitable. He told the world that the time was ripe to take delibrate actions against the economic predators thereby rendering them impotent.
But three months down the line, the effects of these policies are being felt probably beyond the expectations of an average Nigerian. People are living under extruciating economic hardship. Almost every aspect of our lives is being affected. Costs of commodities are high, transportation fares have hit the roof , food on the table is hard to come by. The cry of Nigerians is loud and deafening.
It is painful that people who ought to know better by virtue of their understanding of the world economy are displaying ignorance. They are doing so probably out of sentiments. Criticisms, threats of fire and brimstone keep on coming from the labor unions and a section of human rights community . The Nigeria Labor Congress on a couple of occasions actually called for strike but had to backpedal.
How come, Pastor Tunde Bakare, probably looking at the issue from the perspective of activism condemning PBAT policies and describing it as putting the cart before the horse? Does he realize that it takes a President with strong political will to take such decision? National economy is far different from pulpit economic postulations where you commit the economic recovery of the congregation to the divinity or to spiritual intervention. While there is a part that spirituality will play in the life of a nation, such will never take the position that empirical solutions of economic principles and theories. A responsible government must do the needful when necessary.
This is an economy already bastardized, abused and rapidly ailing. An economy that is so fragile that it cannot support the basic needs of man not to mention that of luxuries.
Over the years, and under the successive administrations, Nigeria economy has been experiencing systemic failures. Right from the days of the Structural Adjustment Program of the IBB down to the recent Economic Policies of the PMB administrations, none has shown any slightest indications of giving us economic prosperity. To say the obvious, it has been years of locusts. The cumulative effects of the rots of the past is what we are contending with today.
To clean the mess is like wanting to erect a new building on an old dilapidated structure. The first operation of the builder at the site is site clearing in which the old building will be completely demolished and the debris cleared. Then, what would become of the immediate fate of the occupants of such an old building would be to pack out and relocate to somewhere else. In the process of doing that, they would suffer some discomforts. They cannot desire to have a modern house while still occupying the old one. One has to give way for the other to emerge. This is just a simple analogy of the economic realities in Nigeria today.
Nigerians long and love to have a sound economy. No doubt, it is their right to do so. They want security, gainful employments, education without tears, foods on their tables, shelter on their heads, good road network, uninterrupted supply of electricity and many more. When all of these are available and affordable to the generality of people, definitely, the gap between the rich and the poor would have been bridged. But can all of these come on the platter of gold? The answer is NO.
To this extent, it is unimaginable that Nigerians want to eat their coconut without removing the shell, deliver the baby without the mother shedding blood and go to heaven without dieing first. This is absolutely impossible.
No country in the world has ever had meaningful economic transformation without the people making sacrifices first. The history of the economic developments of the Singapore, the United Arab Emirates (popularly called Dubai) and China is available for us to read. It is neither a stone age history nor that of the medieval times. It is part of our modern history of the twentieth century. It takes them a period of gestation, a season of sacrifice and deliberate efforts to conquer poverty in their lands and entrench economic prosperity in their countries.
You cannot sleep in the Biblical Egypt and expect to wake up the next day and find yourself in Cananland. This is not achievable either automatically, magically or miraculously. Nigerians should expect the short-term, medium term and long-term effects of these reforms. Within a period of six months, hopefully things would have started to improve as the benefits of the short-term effect would begin to manifest, ceteris paribus.
To me, PBAT has already taken us out of Egypt. We are already on our way to the promiseland. But in between the two points as I used to say are the red sea to cross, the Wall of Jericho to demolish and of course, the river Jordan to contend with.
Yes, palliatives are essential. Yes, the effects of the reforms needed to be cushioned by the governments. Any right thinking person must subscribe to that. Nigerians deserve to breathe and not bleed to death while the repairs are on going. These demands are fair, just and legitimate. Expectedly, PBAT has announced a number of palliative measures to give some succor to the people. Grains, cash, automobiles are already being deployed to the States for the benefits of the people through their governors. The only snag and fear at the moment is that majority of the Emperors in the States called Governors do not have the record of getting such assignments done fairly. However, the ultimate beneficiaries, which are the downtrodden are actually watching.
May President Bola Ahmed Tinubu Succeed!!!
B. Aderemi Ogundele
(Jagunmolu)
