The economic hardship, which is seriously affecting all Nigerians, except those in government, their friends and highly connected affluent Nigerians, has amply demonstrated that our political leaders are getting it wrong, politically and economically. The blame game around those in power today is needless. No amount of blame game will save the economic blunders and tactical missteps of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration.
The thoughtless removal of fuel subsidy and unification of the foreign exchange markets without putting adequate measures in place to buffer the effects is the first tactical blunder of the administration. The failure of the administration to admit its mistakes and make crucial amends is the second tactical blunder. The continuation of the bad policies with the expectation that it will renew our hopes for a better future is the third tactical blunder of the Tinubu government.
Although Tinubu said that he applied for this job, the presidency, and he knows the enormity of the demands of the job and that we should not pity him, I think honestly that he deserves our pity at times. He deserves our collective pity now because I don’t think he really understood the enormity of the problems or challenges facing the country following eight years of Buhari’s misrule and mismanagement of our economy, the country and our unity.
We shall pity him because managing the entire country is bigger than governing a tiny Lagos State for eight years and dictating what happens thereafter for its politics and economy for over two decades. Nigeria is bigger than one state or one geo-political zone in terms of economic and political management. The formula which worked in Lagos may not work for the entire country. The formula which worked for one geo-political zone may also not work well for the entire country.
Like his predecessor, Tinubu is not getting it right in managing our unity and diversity. His appointments favour his friends and members of his South-West ethnic group more than any other geo-political zone. He probably learnt that bad politics from former President Muhammadu Buhari, who elevated nepotism to a state art and principle of his government. In this wise, Buhari failed. Using the same nepotistic principle as Buhari, Tinubu is working to fail as well except he retraced his bad moves quickly.
The economic hardship in the country exacerbated by Tinubunomics or Tinubu’s economics is real; it is not the handiwork of economic saboteurs as Vice President Kashim Shettima would have us believe. The avoidable economic hardship is caused by the bad policies of this young administration, which will be one year in office on May 29. Although Buhari left a bleeding country, economic wise, the blame for what is happening now, politically and economically should not and must not be heaped on the shoulders of Buhari administration.
Former President Buhari blamed President Goodluck Jonathan for his economic woes for the eight years he was in power; Tinubu must not toe the same line of argument, shifting blames. Nigerian leaders must always remember that government is a continuum. Therefore, blaming the past government for what is happening now is unacceptable. Blaming the opposition for people demonstrating over food crisis in Niger State, Kano, Ibadan, Ilorin or Enugu or Aba or Lokoja or Calabar won’t solve any problem. It will not bring food on the tables of millions of starving Nigerians.
The only solution to the food crisis is massive importation of food, rice, wheat, semovita, beans, as an interim measure and to ensure that the food gets to the hungry and starving Nigerians and not to the governors who will use them to play their dirty politics. Henceforth and as a matter of national policy, the government should prioritize food production. Moving forward, Agriculture should be made a compulsory subject in primary and secondary schools. Also, in the universities and other tertiary institutions, agriculture should be one of the core subjects to be studied as electives or in general studies course.
We must copy the agricultural template of China under Chairman Mao and make food security a top priority of the government. We can also take agricultural notes from Ukraine and Russia, the highest grain growing countries in the world where we import most of our wheat. Growing agriculture will not be solely with hoes and knives and shovels. Our agriculture should go beyond the subsistence level and move towards mechanized and all seasons farming with highly improved seedlings and crops.
The governors crying over poor IGR and bent on over-taxing the people must develop their agriculture to ensure food security, creation of jobs and earning more revenues through exports. The northern states are richly endowed to make the most from agriculture because of their vast land resources. They can grow rice, beans, wheat, maize, millet and other grains. They can make millions of dollars by growing date palms, groundnuts, cotton and cattle.
Similarly, the southern states can also grow cassava, yams, rice, local beans, palm oil, cocoa, rubber, coconut, kolanuts, bitter cola, vegetables, cashew nuts and others for exports. Local governments, where the governors allowed them to be, can also leverage on agriculture to develop their respective areas. Agriculture remains the low hanging fruit to be tapped to ensure the nation’s food security, earn foreign exchange and create massive jobs and grow the economy and not the selling of dollar and other foreign currencies. Currency speculators and they are many, are killing the economy. They can be found in government, banking sector and corporate Nigeria.
Trading on dollar and other foreign currencies by Aboki exchange, Bureau de Change or banks and other powerful corporate entities has ruined the economy and will continue to ruin it until we prioritize our national currency, the naira and make it the only means of exchange in the country. Why must some hotels, schools and hospitals charge Nigerians in dollars in Lagos and Abuja? Why must the airlines charge Nigerians in dollars in Nigeria?
The earlier we stop the unofficial dollarization of the economy the better for all of us, and the better for the economy. The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) is not helping matters in the foreign exchange market. The bureaucracy in getting forex for BTA, school fees and subscribing for foreign journals is killing the economy. The commercial banks also compound the problem by referring forex buyers to Aboki exchange.
Revamping the economy is not a rocket science. It is doable. Other nations have done it. We can also do it. The APC government can engage the services of other economic experts, outside the APC, to rejig the battered economy. Let those in APC know that politics is over; it is indeed time for real governance. Tinubu should assemble economic experts from all over the country, irrespective of their political parties and ethnic colourations, to assist him in revamping the economy and creating more jobs. It is not the business of one man who believes that he knows it all. That era of monopoly of knowledge is gone and gone forever.
The hunger in the country is real. It affects all Nigerians from all the six geo-political zones and ethnic groups in almost equal measure. After all, all of us buy yams, rice, beans, and meat from the same market. The hardship in the country affects all Nigerians, no matter where you come from and your political party. Let Tinubu administration find suitable measures to reduce the hunger and hardship in the country now.
The politicization of hunger and hardship is unnecessary. Politicizing them cannot feed Nigerians. It can never reduce their sufferings. It cannot curb the hardship. Good governance at all levels is what Nigerians yearn for now. It is also good governance that will reduce corruption and ensure the welfare of the masses.
The truth of the matter is that Nigerians are hungry and angry and are ready to demonstrate in the streets to show those in government that all is not well with our politics and economy. They should be allowed to ventilate their anger and grievances through peaceful protests. Let the government listen to them and do the needful before it is too late.