The economy needs a magician

By Robert Obioha

BEFORE the emergence of President Bola
Ahmed Tinubu, the economy was already in
dire straits courtesy of eight years of President
Muhammadu Buhari’s mismanagement of
our diversity and the economy. But the situa- tion has been aggravated by Tinubu’s hurried
removal of fuel subsidy and unification of the
exchange rates without putting in place the
necessary measures.
Revamping the economy therefore requires
the services of a magician or even a miracle
worker. And trust our politicians, all of them

are magicians. They are very good in promis-
ing so many good things but so short in deliv-
erables. Before Tinubu came to the national

stage, he was marketed as a good performer and
somebody with wealth of experience to move
Nigeria forward in all sectors.
He was reputed to have fixed Lagos State and
made it what it is now. He was refereed as the
founder of modern Lagos State and even the

builder of Lagos. Remember, Tinubu ruled La-
gos State for only eight years. And within this

period, he was lionized as the man who built
Lagos. Since 1999, Tinubu has been in control
of the political affairs of Lagos State either for
good or bad or both. As the godfather of Lagos
politics, he has literally determined those who
rule Lagos.
Give it to him, Tinubu knows how to detect good leaders and his choice of governors
of the state, though not quite democratic,
can be said to have worked for him and

his army of supporters and praise sing-
ers. The opposition may disagree with his

political philosophy and praxis but they
appear to have worked for him. During
the 2023 election campaign, Tinubu was
marketed as an expert on economy.
He was praised for his political sagac- ity and mentorship of knowledgeable
technocrats. Nobody can deny Tinubu on
this score. He is far and above his peers
in mentoring and nurturing future lead- ers. He did that very well in Lagos State.
He even extended that patronage to other

South West states and other parts of Ni-
geria. Tinubu was even packaged as a ma- gician and a miracle worker who will fix

Nigeria from where Buhari left it.

Since assuming office on May 29, Ni-
gerians are yet to see the magic of Tinubu.

They are yet to see the impact of the new
administration on their lives. Instead of

the unification of the exchange rates giv-
ing us a realistic exchange rate, the naira

has lost its voice among world currencies.

From N700, N800 and N900 to the dol-
lar, the naira has become so weak that

one dollar is now above N1000.
All the measures, fiscal and monetary,
put in place to check the sliding value of
the naira have not worked. The oil sub- sidy regime was removed to ensure that
Nigerians benefit from their natural
resources, yet the people are suffering
under the yoke of rising prices of petrol,
cooking gas, soaring prices of food items,
transportation and others. Removing
petrol subsidy when our four refineries

are not working effectively is counter-
productive.

The private refineries mooted to com- mence production following the removal

of fuel subsidy are yet to commence op- eration. And the government has not ex-
plained why they are not producing as an- nounced. Some stakeholders that arguing that with the rising price of crude oil in inter-
national market, the government has returned

fuel subsidy through the backdoor.

However, the government has stoutly de-
nied this saying that there is no going back on

subsidy removal. Some have mooted the idea
of further increase in the pump price of petrol.
But the government and its oil subsidiary, the
NNPCL have countered it.
In an apparent response to deluge of criti- cisms against the government of President Ti- nubu on the economy and other matters, the
First Lady, Oluremi Tinubu, recently said that
her husband is not a magician. The First Lady
made the remarks at the interdenominational

church service to mark the country’s 63rd in-
dependence anniversary in Abuja.

While admitting that her husband inherited
the situation on the ground, she ruled out the

blame game on any administration but in-
sisted her husband’s willingness to fix it. Ac-
cording to the First Lady, “All we inherited are

things that had happened many years ago; we

are not here to put the blame on any admin-
istration but to fix what has been damaged.”

She also summed up that, “My husband is not
a magician; he is going to work and I believe

and hope that we will have peace in this coun-
try; the best is yet to come to us.”

Despite her optimism, things are getting
bad every day. Nigerians are not breathing.

They are suffering from a mismanaged econ-
omy. They are suffering from insecurity. They

are suffering from malnutrition and food inse-
curity. Nigerians are dying by instalments. The

economy has gone wryly. The economy is sick
and looking for deliverance. The economy is
bleeding and looking for a life support. The
economy needs a magician, a healer and a
miracle worker to fix it.
And the promised hope is fast fading away.
Millions of Nigerians are daily entering the
poverty net. With declining value of the naira,
poor wages and rising unemployment, this is
indeed not the Eldorado that Tinubu promised
Nigerians. Under President Tinubu’s Nigeria,

many Nigerians are being abducted daily, in-
cluding female students and NYSC members and others, without any hope in sight of being
rescued.
For a man who took a long time to prepare to
lead Nigeria and who has been touted as a per- former, an achiever and even a magician and

miracle worker, let him fix the bleeding econ-
omy. This is not the time for excuses. Tinubu

has no reason to fail. He should take a look at
his election promises and start their fulfilment.
The recent damning report by the World
Bank shows that the naira experienced 40 per
cent depreciation in 2023. The global bank
maintained that the tumbling in the value of

the naira was unprecedented and bad for Afri-
ca’s biggest economy. If nothing is quickly done

to check the slide, Nigerians will expect fur-
ther slide in the value of the national currency.

The naira should be saved from going the
way of the currencies of some sub-Saharan
African countries like the South Sudanese
Pound, Burundian Franc, Congolese Franc,
Kenyan Shilling, Zambian Kwacha, Ghanaian
Cedi and Rwandan Franc. Only a magician
and a miracle worker will save the naira from
becoming a worthless means of exchange and
store of value.
It is daily becoming clearer that Tinubu’s
team is not our best eleven. That is evident in
the government’s uncoordinated policies. We
saw such manifestation before the organized

labour suspended its mooted nationwide in-
definite strike. We have seen many policy som-
ersaults in this young administration. The gov-
ernment should consult regularly and widely

with Nigerians. The Federal Executive Council
(FEC) should meet regularly. A weekly FEC
meeting is the normal practice.
The government should speak to the media.
Tinubu should speak directly to Nigerians. He
should minimize talking to over 200 million
Nigerians through his aides. The President
should not toe the line of Buhari. However, it
is not yet late to rejig Tinubu’s economic team.
It is also not yet late for Tinubu to be more na- tionalistic in his appointments. He shouldn’t

copy Buhari’s nepotism and utter mismanage-
ment of our diversity.