The #EndBadGovernance August protest has come and gone. It is now time to take stock and reflect on the protest by quantifying the gains and the losses it occasioned.
The greatest motivating factor for the strike may be linked to the alleged insensitivity, arrogance, flamboyance, unprecedented corruption and impunity among the ruling class while the majority of the citizens can barely afford one meal in a day.
Since the inception of this administration, President Bola Tinubu has made many overseas trips, all in a bid to convince foreign investors to come and invest in Nigeria.
Are these trips necessary when the multinational companies in Nigeria are folding up and relocating? How do you convince foreign investors that your environment is conducive to investment when it is crystal clear that the direct opposite is the case?
Some international oil companies have divested their assets. Crude oil theft is on the increase; our crude oil has been sold upfront by former President Muhammadu Buhari. The present administration is also toeing the same line of forward-selling crude that has not been produced.
Nigeria appears to have been living on borrowed time over the years with the government subsidising the cost of living of the citizens as a result of the fuel subsidy the previous administrations were paying.
On his inauguration, Tinubu declared an end to fuel subsidies. This singular declaration, though well-intentioned, has brought about untold hardship for Nigerians. When this was closely followed by floating our currency, hell was let loose, inflation spiraled out of control.
Presently, we are heading to stagflation. The citizens expected the government to adequately address the unintended consequences of these twin economic policies.
Unfortunately, while the citizens were asked to tighten their belts, the government and its agencies became more profligate. Those in government are living large as if we are in normal times.
Expectedly before such far-reaching economic policies can be adopted in any economy, it is required that the economy will be a net exporter of manufactured/processed goods and not raw materials. This is not the case with Nigeria.
“Many governors govern their states from Abuja. Some of them have become personal assistants to the president to the extent that they attend all the functions at the presidency whether in the morning, afternoon or evening and only visit their states on special occasions”
It is expected that the infrastructure in the economy supports economic growth. It is expected that the productive population of the economy is gainfully engaged in productive ventures. Again we have more than 40 per cent youth unemployment rate.
Essentially, it is the environment that largely determines economic policies in any society and not the prescription of the World Bank and IMF. The Nigerian environment, which has been described as the poverty capital of the world, does not support the economic policies of the present administration even though these policies require long gestation periods before positively impacting the population when the environment is right.
Nigeria is not working and cannot work as presently configured. We are not practising true federalism. The Federal Government must shed weight and devolve powers to the states while concentrating on issues like immigration, foreign affairs, defence, customs and other essentials that bind the country together.
The states and/or zones must be allowed to exploit, manage and control their resources while paying taxes to the Federal Government.
Many governors govern their states from Abuja. Some of them have become personal assistants to the president to the extent that they attend all the functions at the presidency whether in the morning, afternoon or evening and only visit their states on special occasions.
There is no gainsaying that many present-day political office holders weren’t employers of labour before coming into office. This accounts for why most of them are profligate with state resources and live flamboyant and arrogant lifestyles.
Do you know that Nigeria is said to have the highest cost of production of a barrel of crude oil among all OPEC member states? Nigeria produces one barrel of crude at a cost of about $48. To get a sense of proportion, the cost of production of a barrel of crude, the world over, ranges between $5 and $20. Definitely, corruption is responsible for this high cost of production. The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission should rather probe why Nigeria incurs a high cost in producing crude.
The August protest brought many issues to the fore. The level of insecurity in the country is worrying. Travellers, including corps members, are being kidnapped on the highway; farmers on their farms experience attacks, often resulting in death or abductions; villages are attacked and their inhabitants driven into IDP camps, while the government and security forces look the other way. No one would want to put his investment in such a clime.
The protest provoked the government to take some panic measures like suspending duties on the importation of grains and other food items for six months. The primary responsibility of the government is the protection of lives and property. This panic measure will affect the farmers negatively. The government should ensure farmers will be secure when they go to their farms all year round.
In terms of insecurity, state police are part of the solution. Nothing stops local governments from creating their own police to police their respective local governments. We know that palliatives don’t work. Let the environment be conducive to productive engagements of the citizens. The leadership must show political will and exemplary reduction in the cost of governance.
The government must get its priorities right. This is not the time for a presidential yacht, presidential plane, and the renovation of the Vice President’s house. This is not the time that members of the National Assembly, as speculated, should be taking N21m as monthly allowances. This is not the time for a bloated entourage in the search for foreign investors. The government must be intentional in cutting the cost of governance. The eyes must now shift to the state governors.
The state governors, until the Supreme Court judgment that granted fiscal autonomy to the local governments, used to control the allocation for both the state and local governments. Despite the fact that some state governors have access to ecological funds, 13 percent derivation fund, internally generated revenues, massive borrowings continue. There are no visible developments in the states to justify that they receive 40 per cent of the available funds. The governors can stop the forthcoming protest by embarking on impactful projects.
No president can achieve anything under this convoluted fraudulent federal system. Until true federation is instituted in our country, no progress can be made. Instituting a true federal system through fundamental restructuring will be the greatest achievement of this administration.
The administration would have resolved more than 60 per cent of the problem bedeviling the country. Nigeria is not working, cannot work and will not work until we consciously and intentionally restructure the fraudulent federal system in place today. We must accept the truth for the country to make progress.
*Onyeukwu can be reached via ngozindigbo@yahoo.com
