- Buhari must walk his talk
President Muhammadu Buhari’s recently reported statement that Nigeria’s economy is “still in bad shape” should serve as an impetus to do better rather than be parlayed into the frantic politicking of the latest election cycle.
What is perhaps most interesting about Buhari’s assertion is its indirection. The declaration did not come from the President himself, but was quoted by Zamfara State governor, Alhaji Abdulazeez Yari, who was speaking in his capacity as Chairman of the Nigerian Governors’ Forum (NGF). The NGF had met with the President, allegedly to discuss the issue of a new National Minimum Wage.
Yari said Buhari had claimed that “the economy is in a bad shape and that we have to come together, think and rethink on the way forward.” He added that the President had “talked to us in a manner that we have a task ahead of us; we should tighten our belts and see how we can put the Nigerian economy in the right direction.”
The numbers certainly testify to the fact that Nigeria is not where it should be. Recently-released figures by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) show that unemployment grew from 18.8 per cent in the fourth quarter of 2017 to 23.1 per cent in the third quarter of 2018. Citizens without jobs rose from 17.6 million to 20.9 million within the same period. 8.77 million of these were first-time job seekers; another 9.7 million consisted of individuals who had lost jobs.
The unemployment figures reflect the marginal progress made in overall economic growth. The NBS reports that the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) rose by 1.81 per cent in the third quarter of 2018, a 0.31 per cent increase over the 1.50 per cent of the second quarter of 2018, and 0.64 per cent better than the third quarter of 2017. The non-oil sector grew by 0.28 per cent over the second quarter of 2018, but its contribution to GDP fell by 0.83 per cent compared to the preceding quarter.
Such slow growth is an indication that the country is yet to fully recover from the recession it recently exited. Given the stark nature of Nigeria’s economic position, it does not help that the President’s remarks reached the nation indirectly. Yari is not Buhari’s Minister of Finance or his Senior Special Assistant on Economic Affairs; there is no reason why those officials cannot regularly apprise the nation on the state of the economy in clear and unambiguous terms.
The indirectness of such vitally important information inevitably implies that the President was reluctant to let his remarks become general knowledge; unsurprisingly, it was seized upon by opposition parties as conclusive proof of his inability to manage the economy competently.
Forthright, regular and informative updates on the economy by the Federal Government are essential to formulating an appropriate response to slow growth. The Economic Recovery and Growth Plan (ERGP) and other economic stimulation policies embarked upon by the administration must be re-examined to see why they have apparently not helped to facilitate economic development as quickly as they should have.
It is especially important that the government’s infrastructural expansion programme is speeded up; signature projects in road rehabilitation, bridge construction, railway expansion and power generation and transmission must be completed in time and on budget.
The administration’s vaunted successes in agriculture must make a more definitive contribution to the value chain; the huge increase in rice production, for example, must translate into ramped-up rice-milling, greater sales and significant price reduction. The substantial increases in tax revenue and crude oil receipts must be deployed more accurately towards critical areas rather than wasteful consumption which only serves to put unnecessary pressure on the naira.
The ultimate target of these policies should be increased employment. The jobless growth of the Jonathan administration has shown that significant rises in GDP without commensurate gains in employment can only lead to tragic fiascos like the Immigration recruitment scandal of March 2014.
The performance of the economy is a reflection upon President Buhari’s qualities as a leader. It is incumbent upon him to show that he has both the capacity and the will to leave Nigeria better than he met it.
