Two notable experts on economy and public sector reforms, Dr Paul Alaje and Prof. Remi Aiyede have cautioned President Bola Tinubu to urgently reverse economic policies already introduced by the Administration capable of worsening the situation and making life harder for the people.
The experts formed the consensus that the Federal government already took the left foot forward when it hurriedly pronounced removal of petroleum subsidy without putting in a place well-thought out and sustainable economic measures.
To the duo, life is already hard for Nigerians who have become victims of what they termed: “visionless economic policies”, submitting that any further pressure on the people is capable of pushing the populace to the walls and might spark uprising of an unimaginable dimension.
Dr Alaje, the Chief Economist at SPM Professionals, and Prof Aiyede, a lecturer at the Political Science Department, University of Ibadan, spoke on the popular monthly interview discourse, BOILING POINT ARENA on Sunday night.
The current affairs programme which held on Zoom and was broadcast live on a radio station, Sweet 107.1FM, was hosted by a media professional, Dr Ayo Arowojolu.
A foremost traditional ruler, Oba(Dr) Adetoye Alatise, the Gbegande of Ososa-Ijebu, was the Keynote Speaker under a topic titled: “Nigeria and the Debt Trap – How Unbridled Borrowing is Pushing Nigeria to Insolvency and the Way Out”.
Dr Alaje said: “The inflation rate in Nigeria is increasing on a monthly, if not, daily basis and has now increased with about 34%. Food inflation is now already 40%.
“We do not need any soothsayer to raise the alarm that we are already walking on egg-shell. We need to quickly find policies that will reduce the impact on the people.
“It’s a big challenge for the authorities. They must be careful so that people are not pushed to the wall and we need to quickly jettison anything that will make things harder for the people.
“There is nothing impossible. We must learn lessons from the Kenya uprising. Nigeria must avoid such occurrence. It is dangerous with our population. It is not what is desirable for us as a nation.
“Don’t forget that Nigerian youths have already had a taste of ENDSARS protests. We all must avoid every sort of thing that can lead to a protest or violence. For me, I don’t support any form of violence. Violence has no place in our role as professional economist. We are like prophets, we can only warn”.
Dr Alaje also spoke about the implications of the country’s huge indebtedness to the World Bank, IMF and other international creditors on the seemingly uncontrollable inflation in the nation.
“The Central Bank of Nigeria unfortunately got it wrong in its bid to increase money supply. When you raise interest rates in an inflationary period and a country not productive and that is highly dependent on money devaluation as major source of income, rather than seeing inflation going down, unfortunately inflation will go up”, he submitted.
For his part, Prof. Aiyede criticized Tinubu’s economic policies as unorthodox and visionless, decrying the many manifest inconsistencies and trial and error measures that have impacted negatively on the economy.
Prof Aiyede’s drift is captured below:
Hear him: “Tinubu really has to go back to the drawing board. What I see causing hardship to virtually all Nigerians is a government that is just floating. They are like Seamen and not Navigators. The seaman just want to float so that he can occupy office and enjoy the presence of the ship on sea whereas a navigator is supposed to lead the ship to a particular destination.
“I do not see this Tinubu Government taking Nigeria anywhere. The President has a reputation for primitive accumulation. All we know is that the President has a lifelong ambition to be President of Nigeria and that is all.
“What we have found out is that the Office of the President is being operated as a Dispenser of patronage. This is a tragedy. We cannot even meet the simple requirements of obtaining further loans in order to earn money from crude oil production because that has been mortgaged.
“We have a government that has muddled up everything with no responsiveness to issues. There is also no full disclosures on budgetary allocations and spendings.
“We have top players of the Administration on jamboree and the crop of leaders behaving as prodigals who care not about consequences of their actions while in office and their likely place in history.
“Our President should take a cue from what is happening in Kenya. The government must take the well-being of the people seriously. Tinubu should not wave off the agitations of our youths who are now more involved in the politics of issues.
“He should go beyond looking for omnibus solutions. He should keep his promises which ought to truly renew hope and not dash our hopes as we see it presently.”
