•This is what the government needs to get us out of the woods
With the economy still on the downward spiral, anxious Nigerians have, understandably, continued to seek answers, if not assurances, to the troubling question of when the threatening pall will lift. Penultimate week, Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor, Godwin Emefiele, seeking to allay the growing concerns of Nigerians on the matter had stated that the country would start getting out of recession by the fourth quarter.
His words: “We are already in the valley, the only direction is to go up the hill and the government is doing everything possible to ensure that we move up the hill. I am optimistic that based on the actions being taken by the monetary and fiscal authorities, the fourth quarter results will show evidence that we have started to move out of recession”.
He added, perhaps for effect, that: “The worst is over. The Nigerian economy is on the path of recovery and growth.”
Minister of Finance, Kemi Adeosun, was however rather more tempered: “I don’t want to predict when we will get out of recession. Let me tell you that we will get into growth and that’s how you get out of recession, because of the stimulus that we are providing.
“And it may take longer than we would like, but we will definitely get out of it. We are already seeing some positive signs in agriculture and solid minerals and with what we are trying to do with other sectors, I am very sure we will get out of it soon.”
Called to choose between copious assurances and well-meaning platitudes on the one hand, and practical, hands-on measures to lift the economy out of the morass on the other, there can be no question that Nigerians will readily vote for the latter. At a time Nigerians are yearning to see that the right things are being done to get the economy out of the woods, and at a pace that matches their expectations, the last thing they want is the endless talk-fest.
It has been stated, times without number, that the Nigerian economy has been over-dissected. And we couldn’t agree more. Clearly, Nigerians require no new tutorial to identify the source of the economy’s current travails. Whether it is the cyclic wave of oil prices with its fluctuating fortunes aptly tagged the oil producers’ nemesis; or Nigeria’s home-grown nightmare – the militancy in the Niger Delta that has made nonsense of projections about crude production, or the virtual collapse of manufacturing which has created the current situation of total dependence on all manner of imports, our problem is inextricably linked to our dependence on the wasting asset – oil.
Perhaps far more than the Federal Government is willing to give them credit, Nigerians certainly understand that the problems, being of a structural nature, would require far more than the usual quick-fix to solve. They understand that the time for placebos is long gone. They understand that the task of building an economy that is less dependent on oil – an economy with a solid agro- industrial base and one less dependent on imports whether for raw materials or food belongs in the long haul. They understand the requirement for massive investment in infrastructure of power, roads, railways, refining and petrochemicals. Part of the problem is that Nigerians haven’t begun to see the Buhari administration’s hunger on the scale that can be said to match the yawning infrastructure gap. It seems about time the administration changed tack – for its own good and for the good of the economy.