Tinubu’s one year in office: Nigeria’s bleeding economy

Over the past one year, the federal government has struggled to stabilize the macroeconomic indices of the Nigerian State.

We have witnessed macroeconomic instability that has resulted in the unprecedented CPI/inflation increase to over 33% (consumer price index). We have witnessed the official unemployment rate inch towards the 50% mark. We have also witnessed the alarming and unprecedented rise in the lending rate from the lows of 8% in 1999 – 2007 to the current highs of 26.5%. We are witnessing the inordinate devaluation of the naira by as much as 70%, which has effectively wiped out the real income of the Nigerian worker and have found citizens gasping for breath.

Numerous companies have shut down businesses. Corporate Nigeria has been reported by Business Day, Bloomberg, among others, to have as many as 923 firms either shutting down operations or exiting the country altogether. We have seen reports of the massive emigration from Nigeria of which we have reportedly lost at least 2.5 million persons due to migration over the past 5 years.

From all indications, Nigeria is bleeding. The macroeconomic instability is a turn-off for international investors. The foreign direct investments (FDIs) are being diverted to sister African countries for competing investments. Just last week, it was reported that TotalEnergies, re-routed a $6 billion investment from Nigeria to Angola. Several firms exiting Nigeria are setting up shop in neighboring countries with more stable macroeconomic policies. Microsoft LLC has just been reported to be closing her offices in Nigeria, and setting up a $1 billion office complex in Kenya as an alternative, to serve the needs of sub-Saharan Africa outside South Africa.

While we are aware that the immediate past administration had taken certain economic, governmental and policy decisions that were neither optimal nor wise, of which the current administration is grappling to unravel, we still are of the opinion that far less has been done, and is being done to mitigate the current economic carnage.

The major reason of any government is to engineer the prosperity of her citizens. Is the current federal government, alongside the state appendages, working to achieve this? Are the monetary and fiscal policies being churned-out the right mix of policies for the emancipation of the Nigerian citizen or for the propagation of poverty? What are the actual practical policies being formulated by the government to get Nigeria out of the current morass?

The administration of President Bola Tinubu commenced with the mantra of “Renewed Hope” on 29th May, 2023. Over the past one year, Nigeria has lost her foremost position as the largest economy in Africa from a GDP of circa $520 billion to $250 billion.

The naira has depreciated against major currencies in the world, with the I&E window showing the naira at N1,500 to the dollar as against N170 in 2015. The cost of premium motor spirit has spiked from N85 per litre to N700 per litre. The minimum wage has receded by from $40 per month in 2015 to about $10 per month. How can an individual survive on $10 per month let alone a family?

The policies of the current administration at the federal level are not working. The states are no better. There is the need for a Marshall Plan on the Nigerian economy and a need to convene all stakeholders to seek solutions.

This has gone beyond partisan politics, ethnoreligious sentiments and/or regional proclivities. Nigeria is bleeding and on a very dangerous trajectory that might result in a meltdown with global implications.

There is the need to save our fatherland from further carnage. There is the need to compel the federal and state governments, executives and legislature, to come together, and formulate an actionable plan to save the country from disaster.

There is also the little issue of an independent and upright legislature. All arms of government tie together in a value chain to drive an economy and engender prosperity. We deduce that the current model is wrong and the government at all levels headed in the wrong direction.

We call on the good people of Nigeria to compel the government at all levels, to convoke an emergency meeting now on putting an end to the hemorrhaging of the Nigerian State.