The present administration that was sworn in just a little over a year ago still has about three good years to go in this tenure. The sitting President, Bola Ahmed Tinubu (Asiwaju of Lagos) is therefore, the chief servant that is answerable to all the governance tasks, responsibilities and challenges that need to be fixed within the term. It was he alone that took an oath of office on 29th May 2023; to uphold, serve and protect the nation, for the general good of all and sundry within the economy. Good governance includes (among other things) careful management of available resources. This stewardship in management of the national assignments (looking at it from the economic perspective), primarily focuses on production and consumption of goods and services, including the supply of money. This is basically the primary responsibility before the man in charge on this day, to fix it, and thereafter, have all citizens within the economy happy if they are protected, socioeconomically.
In the country, presently, the way people make money and the way they spend it should be a thing of national concern because of the biting hyperinflation that is strangulating Nigerians, especially the low income earners (both salaried employees and entrepreneurial artisans). A simple empirical example is to assess the people’s purchasing power or their disposable incomes, when compared with the costs of commodities at the market. This point can be expatiated by citing examples with the latest agreement between the federal government and the labour unions on the new minimum wage, now put at seventy thousand naira per month (N70,000 monthly salary). Using two items to illustrate the point, one bag of rice and one litre of petrol sell for N75,000 and N800 respectively. Our economy is so messed up that a salaried employee on N70,000 monthly pay slip cannot afford a bag of rice (unless he has other sources of earning extra pay, which could be an illegitimate means outside the official means); and cannot even boast of running a generating set for power supply at home due to the chronic power outage in the towns and cities of the country. A generator, for instance, takes an average volume of ten litres of petrol that will only last for about six to seven hours; which in monetary terms amounts to about N8,000. So the latest minimum wage of N70,000 cannot obviously boast of covering more than 12 to 15 days cost of fuel for energy consumption, by an ordinary Nigerian running a generator to supply his home power after work in the absence of power sourced from the national grid; and he still has to feed his family. These are the simplest analyses that could be conducted to prove how bad the economy is presently.
We, therefore, call on Mr. President to passionately intervene, in line with the latest reaction of members of the House of Representatives, to slash their salaries by 50 percent over the pervading hunger in the land, for instance. Resetting this economy is most pertinent at this critical moment of our national life. Curbing the excessive spending of the government should be deemed a desirable action being taken in the right direction because such actions would most sincerely free up lots of resources that could further be channelled to other needed national development.Â
The economic crisis facing the country actually requires the passionate effort and support of those in government, through selfless sacrifices. It is the President that can actualize this feat through leading by example; and this will be part of his performance record in service and in many other national assignments. The potential inherent in the country’s economy that the government can figure out, constantly speaks to the need to exploit them for productivity. This should be paramount in the minds of patriotic public servants who feel burdened to want to see that this economy works. The President’s interventions must include him involving the contributions and partnership of PRIVATE SECTOR OPERATORS in the economy. This he can easily achieve through the involvement of the organised private sector (OPS) institutions across the entire economy.Â
The sliding value of the local currency (our fractured naira) ultimately, is actually the main issue, based on the fact that the exchange rate value indicates how healthy or poor the economy is. It is on this note that we shall continue to emphasise on improving the economic productivity of our national life through an industrialisation policy for every economic sector in the land. A disciplined mapped out strategy that is initiated from the Presidency and marched with commensurate political will in action, should be the main focus for actualising impressive performance, as is most seriously desired now. This should be the push expected from the President to sincerely turn the economic situation around, and swing the results so far recorded into economic success.Â
This task is an onerous national assignment that the leader must confront and achieve economic victory on behalf of the hungry and impoverished citizens. Unless Tinubu does not wish or expect to be recognised by history as the leader who improved the economic situation of Nigeria.
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