- Nigerians list expectations in first 100 days
- Call for improved welfare package for workers
- Say Emefiele, Bawa’s probes must be productive
BY TIMOTHY AGBOR, BAMIDELE FAMOOFO, BENEDICT NWACHUKWU, FESTUS OKOROMADU, MAYOWA SAMUEL AND BRIGHT JACOB
Key stakeholders in Nigeria have applauded President Bola Tinubu over some milestones his administration has recorded since it got to power.
However, economists have said that one of the combined short-term effects of the oil subsidy removal and exchange rate policy is worsened inflation and called on the Federal and State Governments to ensure that workers’ salaries are reviewed upward without delay.
The economists and other key stakeholders, including policy analysts, lawyers and politicians, during their separate exclusive interviews with The Point, lauded the efforts of President Tinubu in his monetary policy reforms, appointments of Special Advisers, fuel subsidy removal and arrest of suspected corrupt public office holders.
Recall that since Tinubu was sworn-in on May 29, 2023, he has made some key decisions, including the removal of fuel subsidy, suspension of the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Godwin Emefiele over his abysmal handling of the country’s monetary system for the past nine years.
A similar treatment was given to Abdulrasheed Bawa, the suspended Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, over weighty allegations of corruption.
Other steps taken so far by the current administration include the signing of the Electricity Act 2023, the Data Protection Act, the Student Loan Act, the unification of the foreign exchange market and others.
There are also indications that President Tinubu’s Policy Advisory Council has recommended that the Nigeria Customs Service, the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency and the Federal Inland Revenue Service, be merged.
“Those appointed were so balanced, meaning that there is no part of this country that does not have great men and women that can be put in government. What is destroying us is nepotism. I think President Tinubu should be commended for putting the right persons in the right places”
The council proposed the merger in order to enable an efficient collection of all direct and indirect taxes, as well as levies on behalf of the Federal Government.
Reacting, an associate Professor of Economic History, Tunji Ogunyemi, noted that the actions taken so far by the President would in the long run transform the country, noting that the pace at which Tinubu’s administration is going is unprecedented.
He said it was surprising that some decisions that took the past administration years to handle had been made within some few days or hours of the current administration.
While stressing that Nigerians would suffer with the attendant effects of the policies for a while, Ogunyemi noted that the nation had unlocked successes due to the critical economic decisions taken so far by Tinubu.
Ogunyemi, who is also a lawyer, said the pains Nigerians would encounter by the fiscal and monetary policies were short-lived, adding that the gains were immense and lasting.
He urged the Federal Government not to delay in rolling out short to medium term palliatives that would cushion the effects of the financial and economic actions on the populace, saying the N30, 000 minimum wage, which civil servants currently earn “is laughable.”
For the economist, the least any worker could be paid to survive inflation and other economic hardship the country would face is N120, 000.
While emphasising that the exchange rate and naira floatation policy of the Federal Government is not devaluation, the economist explained, “What the Federal Government has done is not devaluation of the naira, it is removing official pegging of the value of the naira relative to other international currencies. That means the naira is allowed to find its level at the money market. And in that money market, the basic principles prevailing in exchange there are the demand and supply principle.
“So, the naira has been allowed to float and it is dependent on either the availability of supply and of course, the direction of fiscal policy. I must say that what President Tinubu has done is good for the economy. We have not had a system in which the naira is allowed to float like this, it has not happened in our history before. The short-term effect of this is that it’s not going to be a tea party for savers, those who save money, especially the small savers. If you have one million naira in your account now at 2.5 per cent interest rate, it is absolutely nothing. It means that the value of what you have in the bank would depreciate significantly and far less from what you deposited there.”
Reacting to critics’ views that President Tinubu ought to have taken the policies one after the other and not at a go, Ogunyemi disagreed, saying, “In 1978, the then Head of State, General Olusegun Obasanjo, said that a situation of paralysis, needed a short therapy to bring it to normalcy. Nigeria is in a paralytic situation and every therapy no matter how they are combined that will heal our current economic sickness is necessary. So, the fact that the President rejigged monetary and fiscal policies at the same time is just complimentary. I mean, that’s how to do it. You can’t go on fiscal by saying no subsidy again, it’s a fiscal policy before monetary, and then you go to monetary and say naira find your level at the floatation market. So, that’s complementary and nothing is wrong in that. And one without the other will still make the crisis remain. I think this is correct and it is timely. The only thing I know for sure is that the subsidy issue was belated but better late than never.”
On recent appointments made by Tinubu, the analyst said, “President Bola Tinubu has proved beyond reasonable doubt that he can put round pegs in round holes, square pegs in square holes in terms of the appointments he had made so far. Check out those people that are around him, is it Dele Alake, he is a great communicator, he has paid his dues in journalism; is it Wale Edun, he is into financial economics, is it Mrs. Olu Verheijen, she is an expert in energy. And President Tinubu will not just give you a job to do, he will follow suit because he himself is a technocrat. Is it a joke to rise to become an Auditor in Mobil?
“So, all these appointments and policies are great signs of good things to come. I am very sure that the people that the National Assembly has approved will be represented as Ministers. The truth of the matter is that the appointments made by the President with respect to these Special Advisers are well made and they are signs of great things to come.”
“Those appointed were so balanced, meaning that there is no part of this country that does not have great men and women that can be put in government. What is destroying us is nepotism. I think President Tinubu should be commended for putting the right persons in the right places,” the Associate Professor stated.
Some other respondents including a politician, Goke Omigbodun, a public affairs analyst, Kanmi Ademiluyi and a policy analyst, Oluyemi Omotosho-Junior canvased for the independence of the EFCC and ICPC, saying that Presidents of Nigeria often make the heads of the anti-graft agencies to be corrupt by using them as instruments to fight their political opponents.
They urged the new leadership of the bodies to resist the temptation of corrupt practices and ensure that the President doesn’t use them to orchestrate his selfish agenda.
Ademiluyi said, “Corruption is pervasive in Nigeria, Bawa and others were appointed to fight corruption and they are Nigerians. In 2007 when we had Ribadu, Ribadu did very well, he prosecuted Tafa Balogun and Tafa Balogun even paid N150 million pounds back through plea bargain but again, he was found culpable by the same corruption he fought. The problem with that agency is that the President is always using the EFCC as an instrument to fight political opponents and when you are fighting political opponents and you don’t compromise, there would be problems. Look at Odili, he was about actualising his political aim before Obasanjo sent EFCC to him and he couldn’t realise it again.
“Therefore, I want to advise the new leadership of the EFCC and others to avoid lifestyles of so many things that would make people want to look into their direction. There will be every means that people will want to throw temptations at you. You must have the grace of God behind you and must be super determined that corruption won’t succeed when it fights back.”
“For me, it’s cautious optimism. That was a good move for President Tinubu in the right direction but we need to be sure that this is being done with almost sincerity and it’s going to be sustained. I will not give any score to President Tinubu right now, I will say you are doing well, let’s see how far you move in this direction. Let’s see how he will tackle the oil subsidy fraud and arbitrage in the foreign exchange. Let’s not applaud him too much for now. If Tinubu continues in this way and doesn’t allow himself to be distracted, we will enjoy it,” a chieftain of the Labour Party, Goke Omigbodun said.
Meanwhile, a human rights advocate, Michael Ebofin, has called on the Federal Government to ensure that proper accounts are rendered in the investigation and prosecution of Emefiele and Bawa.
He said citizens should gain, through public infrastructure, the money that would be recovered from the suspects.
Ebofin also called on President Tinubu to discourage jumbo packages for public office holders, saying, “I want to urge President Tinubu to be sincere with Nigerians in the fight against corruption. The money realised from these corrupt people should be devoted to ameliorating the suffering of the masses.
“We say no to jumbo severance packages for duty bearers in Nigeria. It is an alternative route of sharing public funds at this period of economic meltdown. Jumbo package is wasteful spending, dead expenditure, detrimental to our economy, deficit in nature and outrageous.”
Ndubuisi Ekekwe, analyst and public affairs commentator at Tekedia, is of the opinion that the Central Bank of Nigeria cannot achieve a correction valuation for the Naira just by policy proclamation but by consulting the people in the private sector of the economy who feel the direct impact of the policy.
Admonishing the interim Governor of the CBN on the way to go, he said, “I have this village suggestion to make: the strength, power and redemption of the Naira will not come from the absolute policies in the headquarters of the Central Bank of Nigeria, but through what happens in warehouses, factories (the old and new types) across Nigeria.
“Nigeria needs to make things – physical, service, digital. You cannot fix Naira via bank branches, only the warehouses and factories (old and new) will redeem the Naira.”
Boniface Chizea, a management consultant, submitted that the immediate effects of both naira unification and subsidy removal on the people would be grave but proferred solutions on how best the government could handle the difficult situations.
“What we needed to do was to allow the major marketers to source independently and import products under the oversight of the relevant regulatory bodies for the purpose of guiding against collusion and for product quality assurance; and no more. By this approach the market will then determine the prevailing pump price at each point in time. There are indications already that this is the planned approach, going by recent pronouncements,” he said.
Joseph Agabi, an Abuja-based legal practitioner and human right activist said though he never supported Tinubu during the campaign, he must commend some of the key decisions he had made so far.
“The suspension of the CBN Governor, Godwin Emefiele, and getting rid of the former Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, Abdulrasheed Bawa, as well as the courage to remove fuel subsidy and the intervention of the CBN on the foreign exchange market which has been a channel for corruption are welcome developments. It seems to me that he is set to tackle the endemic corruption in the system.
“I look forward to him also removing the Group Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) and the Chairman of the Independent National Election Commission (INEC) among others.
“He must now shift his focus to the security agencies. Something drastic must be done to revive our security architecture. The insecurity in the country today is a thing of concern to every Nigerian except those who are benefitting from it. It is a thing of shame to say that our Army and Police that go out to international peacekeeping missions and come home with medals are finding it difficult to curb the insecurity in the country.
There must be something unusual about the structure and operation, hence they cannot deliver even with the huge annual budget allocated to them.
“I am beginning to admire his courage in making serious political decisions. I do hope that with the 10th National Assembly now inaugurated, good enough, his party’s choice won all the leadership positions. We look forward to seeing the dividends of democracy,” Agbi said.
Mustapha Bello, a civil servant with one of the MDAs, said he was convinced that President Tinubu had the best interest of Nigeria at heart, stressing that his performance since he assumed office had vindicated people like him who voted for him during the February presidential election.
“So far so good, President Tinubu has proven his critics wrong. You saw his speech at inauguration and how he has faithfully tried to walk the talk. There is no doubt that he is a good administrator, and knows how to generate good policies and implement the same. I trust he will fulfill all his campaign promises in no time.
“Nigerians are amazed by the efficiency with which this government is operating. A learned friend of mine expressed his thoughts in our alumni group, stating: Obi and Atiku must be impressed with Tinubu’s performance.
Neither of them could have achieved better results than what has been accomplished today. Let us be honest. A Harvard MBA case study is on the horizon!,” he said.
“What Tinubu did is more than hitting the ground running. He has by this act signaled to his incoming cabinet and the outgone Buhari’s cabinet that it is no longer business as usual where public servants turn our money to their private and personal wealth. He arrested two very important persons considering the positions they held”
Probe Emefiele, Bawa, Malami, others
Speaking with The Point, a lawyer and social critic, Ambrose Ezewunwa said, “It’s been long a Nigerian President acted this way. What Tinubu did is more than hit the ground running. He has by this act signaled to his incoming cabinet and the outgone Buhari’s cabinet that it is no longer business as usual where public servants turn our money to their private and personal wealth. He arrested two very important persons considering the positions they held. Who then will go scot-free is the big question.
“My worry is that this arrest should not be the same as it was done in the past where people were arrested, probed, yet nothing came out of it and we see them walk tall and bold on the streets spending their stolen money while we keep talking and speaking grammar, condemning them. Those probing them must not dance to the public tune.
They must do a thorough work before taking them to court so that the court will not knock out the case technically.
“I want to add that now that the EFCC Chairman has been suspended and is facing a probe, his godfather and former Minister of Justice and Attorney General Abubakar Malami and other ministers like the Humanitarian Affairs, Aviation, Communication, and others will be invited for a probe. People are saying the step President Tinubu took is vendetta. Fine! If vendetta will bring back our looted money and kill corruption in our country, I support it 100 per cent. That’s me.”
Solomon Ibrahim said, “President Tinubu is truly living up to his campaign promises with this first step he took.
He did not hesitate to remove fuel subsidies now he suspended Emefiele and Bawa. It is a warning to the former ministers and chairmen of MDAs under Buhari that they cannot sleep well after stealing the country dead and also, it is a signal to all of us that he is ready to return the country’s lost glories. We must be praying for his success so that we can enjoy our country again.”
A chieftain of the All Progressives Congress, Kayode Salako, also hailed President Tinubu for the key political decisions he had taken since his inauguration into office.
The former Lagos State chairman of the Labour Party said he “never doubted his experiential capability to be the president of Nigeria and to run Nigeria well.”
“I’m one of those who believe he’s one of the most brilliant and mentally endowed politicians in Nigeria who knows what to do to positively impact Nigeria’s socio political system. He’s been there for a long time, he’s produced champions.
“That man that has been discovering talents, and has been operating in the system thus far, cannot now be president of Nigeria, and not perform. His appointments so far have got nothing to do with religion, but capacity, that is, the people he believes will do well for his people and his government.
“Tinubu knows those who won’t make his plans for the country to see the light of day. So, the president must put people in power that will help his government.
“What Buhari lacked was in the area of monitoring and sanctioning of people in government under him. He was too lackadaisical, he allowed them to do whatever they liked. This is the mistake Tinubu should never make,” he noted.
A Port Harcourt-based Chartered Accountant, Ify Ogbonna, said Tinubu’s efforts so far were “interesting” and “uplifting.”
She also said she was “in love” with the Student Loans Act recently signed into law, arguing that those who had fears about it should simply “wait and see what will happen in the future.”
Ogbonna also said that no one was talking about Tinubu’s health anymore.
According to her, she desires good governance and will support anyone who brings it, irrespective of party affiliation.
“Tinubu, in my opinion…and I am entitled to it, has done surprisingly well these past three weeks. Most of the things he has done have been interesting and uplifting.
“I am particularly in love with the Student Loan Act he signed. There’s hope now for indigent students. I understand some people have criticised it, saying it is a ploy by the government to send many students out of school.
“I don’t agree with that. Taking a student loan will assist students in no small amount. I also understand there’s fear they could jerk up fees in tertiary institutions. My answer to this is ‘let’s wait and see what will happen in the future.’
“You can see that nobody is talking about Tinubu being sick or that he has tubes passed through his body for passing out urine. They are silent now. Like I always tell you, I didn’t vote for Tinubu, but I desire good governance in this country and will support anyone who can deliver it,” Ogbonna said.
