FEATURE
By
Wale Fatade
Mr. Wale Fatade |
(The Cable.ng)
On January 8, Ayo Olukotun, a professor of
Political Communication, asked in The Punch newspaper, “Where is the
president’s think tank?” The professor based his question on President
Muhammadu Buhari’s performance in the last presidential media chat, as we call
it in Nigeria. Since we all know the answer, which is that, our president does
not have a think-tank as at today, except ministers, some special advisers, and
the usual coterie of hangers-on which any leader always have around, the
question is worth asking again.
The lack of a clear-cut economic policy
prompted this piece and unless we want to live in denial, we will all agree
that Nigeria’s economy is in a shambles. It might be unfair to completely blame
the Buhari government for the current woes besetting the economy, as his
government is just nearly eight months in office, but not doing enough
apparently to stem the tide does not bode well for the economy. It is also
worth mentioning that the price of crude oil has not helped this government,
its campaign promises notwithstanding. Researching this piece, I spoke with
four economists who occupy senior positions in critical sectors of the economy
across the political divide and they were unanimous that our president needs
help, and fast too. While we have all been fixated on the exchange rate and the
Central Bank restrictions before they were relaxed last week, the economy is
haemorrhaging in other areas.
A few of our banks have sacked some staff in
the last four weeks and unless someone you know was asked to go, the conspiracy
in the media induced by advert patronage and corruption ensured that such news
items were never made public. A story is told of how the president called the
Central Bank governor, Godwin Emefiele, after the media chat and asked whether
it was true that parents actually were having problems paying their children’s
school fees abroad due to the foreign exchange restrictions. I learnt that,
painfully, Mr. Emefiele too allegedly pleaded ignorance of the aftershocks of
such restrictions. Even though the president’s actions showed a caring leader,
it could also be interpreted as naivety and ignorance on his part. I mean how
could he not be aware of such an order? What kind of briefing – intelligence
and financial – is available to our president? What do the aides tell him
whenever they have audience? What he wants to hear or what he should hear? Our
recent experience as regards leaders being held hostage by a clique is too
painful to be repeated under this dispensation, dear president.
While the restriction policy could have been a
well-intended one, it was fraught with unintended consequences showing that
good intentions are okay but actions are more important. Clearly, there are
many variables as far as the economy is concerned but we cannot achieve any
meaningful progress if they are not all tackled together. Does the president
know that foreign investors, apart from those in the oil and telecommunications
sectors, are voting with their feet? Last Friday, this newspaper reported that,
“The Nigerian stock exchange (NSE) has become the worst performing stock
exchange in Africa, and the third worst performing in the world, after China
and Saudi Arabia.” The exchange, the story said further, lost N1.2 trillion in
the first eight trading days of this year. This simply means that majority of
those who are left are small time investors who do not depend solely on their
investments. Institutional investors, especially foreign ones, are not
sentimental and don’t depend on body language but a well articulated policy
that indicate the direction a country’s economy is headed. It also does not
bode well when consumer and business confidence is zilch like we have
presently.
So, who are the president’s economic advisers?
While the 1999 Constitution does not mandate the president to appoint a chief
economic adviser, a practice that former President Olusgeun Obasanjo
introduced, there’s nothing wrong in the president having a group of advisers
on the economy. In fairness to Buhari, I learnt that three economists spent a
full day with him shortly after election, briefing him on what to do, and
offering suggestions on urgent actions to be taken on the economy, no one knows
if they left a serious impression on him. President Buhari, you need help,
especially in running the economy. Reach out and seek the best expertise
available and let’s have your economic policy. I suggest that the president
also read two books, Stress Test: Reflections on Financial Crises by Timothy
Geithner, a former American Treasury Secretary; and The Courage to Act: A
Memoir of a Crisis and Its Aftermath by Ben Bernanke, chairman of the U.S. Federal
Reserve between 2006 and 2014. Before doing that, however, ask your aides to
brief you on what is happening in Venezuela presently, the country sure have a
lot of lessons to teach your government on how not to run an economy.
* Called from The Cable.ng
* Called from The Cable.ng
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