It is quite exhilarating that President Muhammadu Buhari is about concluding his first four years in office as President of Nigeria and has also secured a second term in office through the ballot box. It was also pleasing that the election was largely without rancour across the country.
In 2015, Buhari won on the mantra of change. All over the country, the sing song was change and there were high hopes that Buhari will significantly upturn the economy of the country which was seriously nose-diving, fight corruption and insecurity across the country.
Between 2015 and now, it has been a harrowing experience for Nigerians as their wellbeing and that of the nation have also nosedived. Nigeria which was recording a minimum of 6% GDP growth could hardly record 2% GDP growth, high unemployment crept into the economy as hundreds of factories either closed or downsized their operations, citizens witnessed insecurity of lives and property across the country particularly in the middle belt and the North east region.
The Buhari administration did all it could to fight corruption. But even now, corruption remains with us as the government was selective in fighting it. The economy instead of improving, plunged into recession and has not improved appreciably. Insecurity of lives and property, too, has remained with us since then, in spite of government’s efforts.
Recall that falling oil prices in 2015 through 2016 dealt a great blow to the country’s foreign reserves and Naira, the country’s currency too was badly affected when it suffered a heavy depreciation. From a situation where N200 could fetch $1, now it is N360 to One USD. The depreciation of the Naira dealt a great blow to the local economy, the value the Naira and to the ego of Nigerians. During this period, the country sank into a recession, the first in 25 years. It came out of it and it is now struggling to significantly increase its productivity again.
There is no doubting the fact that the Buhari administration scored high marks in the area of increasing the country’s foreign reserves and reducing inflation. He must keep this up by further increasing the country’s reserves and further reduce inflation in the economy.
The administration scored below average in the area of job creation and diversification of the economy to agriculture, manufacturing, solid minerals and entertainment. The president must therefore focus more on these areas. A situation where the claims that the country is approaching self sufficiency in local rice production and the same rice cannot be found in the local markets across the country is absurd.
Recall that the President himself had, late last year, expressed his worry over the state of the country’s economy and acknowledged that something was wrong with his government’s economic policy framework. Yes. What is wrong with the Economic Recovery and Growth Plan (ERGP) is that government’s implementation of the ERGP cannot deliver a high growth rate of the economy that will significantly increase productivity; engender massive job creation and inclusive growth across the country.
The Federal Government is claiming that the economy is growing forgetting that for the growth rate to make meaningful impact on the population, it must grow higher than the growth rate of the population. The growth must also trickle down to the whole population. In other words, the growth must percolate well to the whole population.
The president must note that Nigerians are very industrious and creative people. They are ready to work if there are jobs. Unfortunately, people are really hungry now and not happy, all meaning that the dividends from the growth of the economy is not trickling down in consonance with the reality of the economy to enable it deliver sustained growth and make Nigerians feel the impact of the growth in the economy.
Never in the history of this country has the economy been so bad with massive unemployment. The President must use the opportunity of his second term to significantly improve the economy by ensuring that the non-oil sector sustainably contributes to the growth of the economy. Nigerians need jobs, jobs and jobs. The Buhari administration must make sure that there are jobs opportunities in all sectors of the economy. If the president succeeds in doing this well, his name will be written in gold in the annals of the country.
