As Nigeria celebrates her 58 Independence anniversary today, it is pertinent to look back and reflect on how far she has come and how much has been achieved in terms of economic growth. NGOZI AMUCHE examines the gains and pains of Nigeria’s economic policies.
A careful observation of activities around the country showed that the 58 Independence Day anniversary in Nigeria is being marked in a low key by all three tiers of government, partly because of macroeconomic challenges. Looking critically at the present situation of things in the country, one has to wonder, if there is really any cause for celebration. Things don’t seem to be getting better, in fact, they may be getting worse in terms of security, inflation, cost and standard of living, value of the average citizen’s life, jobs, education, healthcare amongst others .
Policy somersault
The fiscal authorities opined that Nigeria may slip back into recession. For instance, Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Mr. Godwin Emefiele, last week warned that weak economic fundamentals currently being shown by the economy were putting the country’s exit from recession under threat, and that the economy had started showing signs of weakness.
Emefiele lamented that the nation’s economy which exited recession in 2017 after suffering contraction for five consecutive quarters, is recording a growth rate of 1.95 per cent and 1.5 per cent during the first and the second quarters of 2018, respectively.
“The slowdown emanated from the oil sector, with strong linkages to employment and growth. The late implementation of the 2018 budget, weakening demand and consumer spending, rising contractor debts, and low minimum wage were some of the risks to output growth. Others are the impact of flooding on agricultural output, continued security challenges in the North-East and North-Central zones, and growing level of sovereign debts” he said.
On what could be done to stimulate economic activities, the CBN governor said though growth remains weak, the effective implementation of the 2018 Federal Government budget and policies that would encourage credit delivery to the real sector of the economy might boost aggregate demand, stimulate economic activity and reduce unemployment in the country. in all this, he believes that there is light at the end of the tunnel.
Managing Director, Cowry Asset Management Company, Mr. Johnson Chukwu, said the fact that Nigerian have remained a united nation after 58 years, is a source of joy.
“But the level of stunted economy that we have suffered is a source of agony to all Nigerian because the reality of the matter is that we have not achieved any of our potential as a nation,” he said.
“Comparing Nigeria to countries like Singapore, that got independent five years after Nigeria, is now a developed nation and we are still struggling the tools of one of the underdeveloped countries, it should be a great concern to every Nigerian but once it becomes a concern to us, then we should as a people use the independent anniversary to decide to change the narrative. So, the anniversary should be an opportunity for us to reappoint our journey to nationhood and make a reasonable decision to change the interjection.”
Not time to roll out the drums
According to Chukwu, “It is not a period to roll out the drums, it should be a period for introspection, for self-appraisal, for us to decide on a way forward for the country that we and our children should be proud of. In terms of economic performance, we have performed woefully, the economy has not been consistent, we have grown our population massively but we have not grown our economic opportunity as much as the population. We have not done well as a country in terms of economic development.
Time for sober reflection
The deputy national coordinator, Institute of Chartered Economists of Nigeria, Dr. Ganiyu Oladapo, said independence of any country is done to celebrate and rejoice if the economy is booming and robust. But in a situation where the economy is not moving towards a positive direction, then the independence anniversary is meant to be a sober reflection in order to find solution to the economic problem facing the country.
“Therefore, we shall need to reflect back and look at our economic policies we have adopted and also reconstruct our team of economists to a more formidable and professional team. The chartered economists are there to be consulted on this issue to bring in their professional injections to boost our economy,” Oladapo said.
In terms of economic performance, we have performed woefully, the economy has not been consistent, we have grown our population massively but we have not grown our economic opportunity as much as the population
“My advice to the Federal Government as an economist is that the government should fixed the right people at the right helm of affairs without any fear or favour. See what is happening in the country now, Nigeria Labour Congress, Trade Union Congress calling workers nationwide to embark on strike.Do you know how much that strike is going to cause the country negatively on our economy?”
Socio-political anomaly
Some Nigerians are crying out that their areas have been marginalized in the scheme of things. Others are agitating for a poorly-defined “restructuring” of the country, while some groups are blaming the political leadership and a corrupt public service for the country’s failure to make rapid economic and social strides. Others want to opt out of Nigeria and recreate a secessionist state. Yet, another group, Boko Haram, resorted to war to overthrow the Nigerian state.
Nigeria; a mere geographical expression
A human right lawyer, Barrister Chido Omenka, said the problem with Nigeria at 58 is that it is not yet a nation. He said it is merely a geographical expression as described by the late Chief Obafemi Awolowo.
“Nigerians have yet to agree on terms of cooperation. Before you talk about restructuring, you have to talk about structuring. It is not a political concept. It is a sociological concept on how a people can agree on socio-political structures that would regulate socio-political institutions,” Omenka said..
According to him, “until we sit down to structure Nigeria, political stability and social justice will continue to elude us. Nigeria does not have economic problems but moral ones. People behave wrongly in public affairs because of their sense of justice. They don’t believe in the country.”
A financial analyst, Mr. Ayodele Olayinka, said the only solution is to redefine the constitution.
“The cost of running the nation should be cut down, it’s time to cut down the salaries of government officials, let every Nigerian join in the fight against corruption. Nigerians should invest more in the economy of the country instead of boosting foreign economy. Despite the political and economic hitches Nigerians are experiencing, they must continue to coexist peacefully with each other,” he said.
A former politician, Chief Kayode Akintunde, said; “Nigerians should come together as one, be active in day to day affairs of the nation. If there is unity, there is strength, it’s time to put the government on its toes to deliver, and also vote for leaders based on individual leadership skill and not based on party affiliation. Nigeria should not be a matter of APC or PDP, the reason we have bad leadership in the country is because of partisan politics.”
Akintunde explained that the country is a good industrial hub because of the unanimous contributions from the six geo-political zones.
“What we produce in Nigeria is enough to make us wealthy and we can also export to other nations. We are prosperous and industrious and that’s an advantage we have staying together. There is nothing to celebrate about our independence; there should be development before celebration. We hear that the recession is over, yet there is no impact or reason to believe that,” he stated.
Politicians have failed Nigerians
He noted that; now, more than ever before, is the time for the political parties that will soon begin politicking towards the 2019 general elections, to realise that they have failed Nigerians.
“There is the need for a total political re-awakening to ensure the proper practice of democracy that will produce statesmen (and women) who are deeply concerned about the welfare and wellbeing of the citizens and the nation-state, and not merely politicians,” he added.
Going forward, it is incumbent on all Nigerians to proceed with optimism in the nation-building project and to recognise that peace is the essential pre-condition for national progress.
