Politics
In these perilous times, the federal government should rise to the occasion and ensure that urgent palliative measures and interventions are implemented, listen more to the people, adopt new and effective policies to improve on the lives of the people. Perhaps, the wise choice is to proceed slowly in ‘hitting the ground running’.
By Goddy Ikeh
AS the wave of disenchantment continues unabated in the country since the inauguration of the current administration of President Bola Tinubu on May 29, 2023, over what has been generally described by the opposition parties and the Organised Labour as ant-people policies, the federal government appears not to be adopting the right approaches in tackling the current challenges facing Nigerians.
For instance, the two leading opposition parties in the country, the People Democratic Party, PDP, and the Labour Party, LP, have described the policies of the federal government as anti-people policies. The two parties had accused President Bola Tinubu’s administration of making it difficult for many people to celebrate Sallah with his anti-people policies.
The statement by the National Publicity Secretary of the PDP, Debo Ologunagba, commended Nigerians for their resilience in the face of “most harrowing economic hardship under the APC Federal Government”, and urged them to reinforce their patience, hope and trust in God, despite the prevailing economic, social and security challenges.
On its part, LP slammed President Tinubu’s administration for showing early signs of continuing “the wasteful lifestyle” of its predecessor with its long convoy of vehicles and bloated bureaucracy.
The acting National Publicity Secretary of the party, Obiora Ifoh, said that it was ironic that an administration, whose legitimacy was still being challenged in court, would ask Nigerians to “tighten their belts and make sacrifices” while living in opulence.
“It is unfortunate that this APC administration, which is still struggling for legitimacy in court, has inflicted pain and suffering on Nigerians just under one month since assuming power albeit temporarily.
“This is an administration, which has supervised increases in the pump price of petroleum products, electricity tariffs, vehicle registration among others, but has refused to cut the cost of governance,” Ifoh told the Vanguard newspaper in a recent interview in Abuja.
According to him, President Tinubu just returned from his foreign business/private visit and was welcomed by a convoy of over 100 vehicles fueled by taxpayers’ money.
And for the Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, the announcement of the removal of the subsidy on petrol without due consultations with critical stakeholders and without putting in place palliatives to cushion the harsh effects of the subsidy removal was unimaginable. In his reaction, the NLC President, Joe Ajaero, said that the decision was insensitive as it brought unintended consequences such as hikes in petrol prices and worsened the high cost of food and products as well as transportation costs across the country.
Unfortunately, the committee set up by the federal government to liaise with the Organized Labour in working out interventions as well as palliatives to cushion the effects of subsidy removal has not come up with any acceptable packages more than 70 days after the removal of the subsidy.
In his first nationwide broadcast after the removal of subsidy and targeted at preventing the planned protests of the NLC on Wednesday, August 2, failed to yield any result as the protests were successfully staged across the country. However, the NLC resolved later to suspend the strike that was planned to commence after the protests and go back to continue negotiation with the federal government’s representatives on the issues of palliatives and interventions.
But in its reaction to the broadcast of President Tinubu, the NLC said that it left the union with the impression that “the promises and assurances made by President Tinubu are not the silver bullet that Nigerians expected.”
Although in his speech, Tinubu said that he was aware of the hardship Nigerians were facing due to the various policy decisions of his administration and that the government was working on reducing the burden to make life easier for Nigerians. He also disclosed that the government was negotiating with labour unions to review workers’ minimum wage.
However, the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria, MAN, had described President Tinubu’s pledge in the broadcast to provide N75 billion to 75 manufacturing concerns at 9 per cent interest rate and N125 billion to Small and Medium Industries, SMIs, as a good start in addressing the scarcity of loanable funds for businesses in the face of rising Monetary Policy Rate, MPR, of the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN.
According to the Director General of MAN, Segun Ajayi-Kadir, the Bank of Industry (BoI) should be used as the vehicle for channelling the funds to the large manufacturers and the SMIs in order to strengthen the manufacturing sector and increase its capacity to expand and create good paying jobs. Tinubu had in broadcast promised to spend N75 billion between July 2023 and March 2024 to fund 75 enterprises with great potential to kick-start a sustainable economic growth, accelerate structural transformation and improve productivity.
“Each of the 75 manufacturing enterprises will be able to access N1billion credit at 9.0 per cent per annum with maximum of 60 months repayment for long term loans and 12 months for working capital.
“Our administration recognises the importance of micro, small and medium-sized enterprises and the informal sector as drivers of growth. We are going to energise this very important sector with N125 billion,” he said in the broadcast.
In the same vein, the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry, LCCI, commended Tinubu’s plan to kick-start sustainable economic growth and improve productivity in his broadcast. The President of the LCCI, Dr. Michael Olawale-Cole, commended Tinubu on the content of his broadcast, saying that the plan to spend the N500 billion ($652 million) package to boost the economy by easing transportation costs, boosting manufacturing, and enhancing food supply and the provision of conditional grants to at least a million small businesses as a clear demonstration that the president has listening ears.
He, however, pointed out that 75 companies would be too small to make significant impact on the economy and expressed concern that nothing was said in the broadcast about the large scale insecurity prevailing in the country.
He, however, advised the government to closely monitor the banking sector in the provision of these loan facilities so that the eventual cost of funds would not be above 9.0 per cent from other banking fees and charges.
“It may be judicious to stipulate that the total costs of funds be benchmarked at 9.0 per cent regardless of the charges and fees,” he said.
The chamber also expressed concerns about the role of the state and local governments and transparency in the implementation of the palliative strategies that included the government’s plans to introduce an Infrastructure Support Fund (ISF) for the states to invest in critical areas and revamp healthcare and educational infrastructure.
“We urge the government to ensure smooth and promising implementation of the measures and regularly engage the citizens and the organised private sector to ensure accountability.
“There should be proper monitoring and evaluation of the implementation process to ensure benefits to the people,” he added.
He also urged Nigerians to exercise some patience, as emphasised by President Tinubu.
According to him, the degradation of our economy has occurred over several decades and it cannot be reversed within a few short months. It would take a concerted effort by all and focus on the strategic alignment of our national goals for change to occur.
It will be recalled that Tinubu had during his campaign promised to ‘hit the ground running’ if elected president and announced two major economic reforms in his inaugural speech. There included ending the debilitating petrol subsidies and the unification of the naira’s multiple exchange rates. Unfortunately, the poor execution of these twin shocks have been blamed for the distortions in the nation’s economy and the disruption of the welfare and livelihood of millions of Nigerians.
Despite these challenges, Tinubu has not given up and on Friday, August 11, he reassured Nigerians that no stone would be left unturned in his administration’s efforts to stimulate the economy and make it work for the good of all Nigerians. Addressing the Board of Trustees of the All Progressives’ Congress, APC, Professionals Forum led by former Bauchi State Governor, Isa Yuguda in Abuja, Tinubu said: “This economy must recover for the good and greatest number of Nigerians, and we are seriously committed to seeing through a change for the better.”
To steadily ensure measured growth and enhanced public enlightenment on policy outcomes, Tinubu said every effort across sectors would be documented and periodically reviewed for performance verification and public presentation.
“So far, we have taken some baby steps and pushed some aggressive positions,” Tinubu told the APC professionals, who had earlier pledged their support for his reforms.
While thanking Tinubu for his bold interventions on the economy, Yuguda said more than two million people had been registered as professionals in different fields since 2018 and were ready to provide structures for mobilisation and sensitization of Nigerians on government policies.
“Foreign capital is a coward that does not move into unsafe areas, so with your successful interventions so far, we look forward to better security that will attract investors,” Yuguda said.
While Nigerians are groaning daily in the midst of rich and abundant natural resources, the World Bank has warned that 7.1 million Nigerians would be plunged into deeper poverty unless urgent palliative measures are implemented. In addition, some concerned socio-political organisations have also called on President Tinubu to urgently put a halt to plans by some government institutions to jack up prices of commodities and services and worsen the precarious situations of hapless Nigerians and make the administration unpopular, while the Manufacturer Association of Nigeria (MAN) has warned that the harsh economic environment and its negative impacts on business activities, a lot of companies are being forced to close down or relocate from Nigeria.
A.
– Aug. 14, 2023 @ 09:55 GMT |
Tags: Goddy Ikeh Nigeria Labour Congress President Bola Tinubu Segun Ajayi-Kadir
