Economy: Beyond the lamentations
Not many Nigerians were surprised when President Muhammadu Buhari recently declared that the inability of the previous governments to plan and save for the future during the crude oil price boom is reason Nigeria is presently going through economic turbulence.
President Buhari, who said this while receiving the Chief Global CEO of Unilever, Mr. Paul Polman, at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, also said the country is paying dearly for incompetence in managing high revenue that accrued from oil, particularly over the past decade, and for allowing the decay of critical infrastructure.
Hear him: ”We refused to save for the rainy day. Now the rain is beating us. No money, no savings, nothing. And we are thoroughly wet from the rains”.
Clearly the President is on point on the reason the ‘rain’ is beating Nigeria. His lamentation and that of others before this time is well taken. However, beyond these lamentations, the Federal Government as well as other tiers of government in the country must brace up and do the needful to bring the economy back from the brinks.
But wait a minute, why did previous governments fail to plan and save during the crude oil price boom? The factors are legion but principal among them was lack of political will as well as the lust by political actors in the outgone regimes at federal and state levels for quick cash, a sizeable portion which was diverted.
Poser: How could the ‘rain’ not beat Nigeria when public officers, especially governors especially during the immediate past administration pestered President Goodluck Jonathan to share monies that accrued to the Excess Crude Account (ECA) of the country almost every quarter? At some points, the governors even dragged the matter to court.
How could ‘rain’ not beat Nigeria when many of the governors during the Jonathan administration opposed the establishment of the Sovereign Wealth Authority, wherein the nation was expected to save a certain percentage of revenues that accrued it for the rainy day? The same Sovereign Wealth Authority had helped other countries save money for the rainy day as well as make investments for future generations.
But for political reasons, many of the governors opposed the SWA when the idea was mooted. Even when the Jonathan administration went ahead to establish the Authority, many of the governors still did not see the justification. Some even accused the Jonathan administration of a hidden agenda and said the Federal Government had no right to save any money for their states. They insisted that all monies that accrued to the federation must be shared and that the choice of what to do with the money should be left to states.
But looking back now, it would have served Nigeria better if the state governors and the Federal Government were on the same page with regards to saving for the rainy day.
So, beyond the lamentations, the Federal Government as well as other tiers of government in the country must brace up and do the needful to bring the economy back from the brinks.
This should start with all tiers of government in the country being on the same page particularly supporting the SWA and other mechanisms that will help Nigeria save for the rainy day.
Bringing back the country from the brinks will also include a deliberate plan by all tiers of government cutting down the cost of governance and deploying amounts saved to critical areas that have capacity to generate more wealth.
Also, there must be a deliberate policy to promote and patronize made-in Nigeria goods. This will not only boost local manufacturing, create jobs but also lead to saving of scare foreign exchange.
Again, politicians, particularly public office holders at both federal, state and local government levels must cut down their flamboyant lifestyles including trimming down the number of political appointees which consume a large chunk of public funds. Monies realised from this could be saved for the rainy day or invested for future generations.
Political office holders in the country must also jettison the urge to spend all monies that accrue to their jurisdictions during the financial year for the ‘rain’ not to continue beating Nigeria.
In addition to the above, as a country, Nigeria must not live in isolation from the rest of the world if its economy is to be brought back from the brinks. Fact is that no country is an island to itself; countries, Nigeria inclusive need each other to grow their economies and develop their people.
To this wise, policies that have made other economies to leapfrog from underdeveloped status to developed economies should be borrowed, fine-tuned and implemented. There is no shame in adapting what is working for other countries and applying them to suit our peculiar environment.
There is also the need for government to jettison outdated policies as well as efforts to railroad citizens into zombies.
Ultimately, we must look the way of fiscal federalism which will allow federating units develop at their pace but most importantly control their resources and pay a certain percentage as tax to the Federal Government.
