– President Muhammadu Buhari has been receiving punches over the state of the nation since the announcement that the country is now on recession
– The recession was announced on Wednesday, August 31, 2016 by the National Bureau of Statistics, a government agency
– Mufutau Egberongbe, a chieftain of the APC, says the situation of the country has gone from bad to worse
Nigeria was recently hit by the news of recession just as some businesses began to shut down. In the aviation industry, two airlines, First Nation and Aerocontractors, have announced a suspension of their services. In this interview with Eromosele Ebhomele, Honourable Mufutau Egberongbe, who is the special adviser to Speaker Mudashiru Obasa of the Lagos state House of Assembly on political and legislative matters, tells President Muhammadu Buhari how he can revive the country’s ailing economy
Hon Mufutau Egberongbe advises President Buhari on the state of the economy
Many Nigerians are complaining about the harsh economic situation of their country. These days, you hear of people being arraigned for stealing foodstuff. Is this not a sign the country is on its way to being grounded?
Whatever you see now is a sign of a country that is moving from recession to depression. It is not just poverty now, it is abject poverty in the land. Such a situation would give rise to various forms of immorality, kidnapping, prostitution, petty stealing and abuses all in a bid to find something to feed the stomach. Even married women now are not left out of the situation. They want to seek for help and use whatever they have to make ends meet nowadays. This is not the best for any nation.
The government has to really sit down and fine-tune, re-appraise our economic activities, I mean our various economic postulations. We really have to make sure we find means, whatever way it would cost the government, to extend social networks, especially to the weak and vulnerable in the society so that they can put food on their tables.
The salaries and wages paid to Nigerian workers now can barely take them to the bus stop, let alone taking them home. This has been so in a long time, but it is even worse now. The purchasing power of our naira is something worrisome. It keeps soaring and the end is not in sight. For an importing nation like ours, it simply means that business would be at a standstill, because you cannot plan what the next business environment is going to be when the foreign exchange keeps hitting you. It is really worrisome.
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You witness that firms in their numbers, including in the aviation industry and others, are winding up, meaning that they are laying off their staff and that would simply give rise to petty stealing and prostitution like I said.
It is now over a year into the government of President Muhammadu Buhari. As a party man, how would you describe him and his administration so far?
The problem we have as a people have been there for a very long time. Most democrats are advocating for the restructuring of our dear nation. When you x-ray our earning over a long period of time, you would see that Nigeria had always been a poor nation. But because the money we have is not evenly distributed and some few ones hijacked the money to live in affluence while majority live in poverty, we tend to believe, because of those living in opulence, that we are doing well. I understand that some of the universities we have abroad, Harvard inclusive, budget billions of dollars in a year for research and school activities. There has never been a time the budget of Nigeria is up to or over a hundred billion dollars.
These things are troubling and I think that the way out of this quagmire…this is the time it should take a government with a sincerity of purpose, like in the case of Buhari and the APC, to restructure the style of government. Let’s make the centre less attractive. Governor Akinwunmi Ambode did say recently at the Governors Forum that of what use is it that the ownership of the land is vested on the state government, but things under it, including mineral resources, are the exclusive of the federal government. Land is owned by the state government, but the navigable water and mineral resources on that same land is owned by the federal government. So you can see the nonsensical position we find ourselves as a people. Let all that are in a state belong to the state government and let them tap into the resources while the federal government regulates in terms of forming templates for the states that are weak or do not have the technical know-how to tap the resources. Then you would see that we would be better for it as a people. Until we restructure, I beg to tell you that we will remain in this position.
Remember that the days of oil are gradually disappearing. Even if every part of Nigeria continues to see oil, we must know that it is no longer fashionable. There are so many alternative means of generating power and energy across the world now. Mauritius, which just visited, generates its power from sugarcane and have more than enough megawatts. So we must go back to farming, mining of other resources and those things we are known for to generate healthy competition.
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You have talked about agriculture like other people, but what we see, most times, is that is easier said than done. Apart from Lagos, we hardly hear of other states with the zeal to going into it…
Before now, the concept of farming and procurement of fertiliser had been enmerged in fraud. There had not been serious roadmap or visible strategies to actualise our goal. Not long ago, Lagos signed a pact with Kebbi state for rice production and I heard an aide to Governor Ambode saying that by December this year, Lagos rice would be in the market. Lagos is equally procuring land in neigbouring states for farming. I know that Governor Rauf Aregbesola is doing same in Osun state. I can say that it is not business as usual.
It is just for us to be patient with the government of Buhari. While I am not holding briefs for him, I think that our economic policies need to be evaluated. We should measure ourselves on a very frequent basis to ensure that we put food on the table for the people. That is key and must not be secondary. All other things should come under it. If we run a policy and it is not giving us the desired result, we should not be ashamed of going back to the drawing table to restrategise.
Currently, only Lagos and a very few other states are economically viable and because of this, there is pressure caused by the influx of people into the state. Do you have any fear concerning this?
Lagos is still part of the whole of the country and you do not need a visa to come into Lagos. Therefore, people would always move in search of better livelihood. I can tell you that sometimes, there is strength in population explosion. It allows for serious markets for products and services, rates and taxes relatively increase, but above all, I think the regional integration started by the western state governors at a time should be taken seriously now.
With Nigeria’s present predicament, how do you think the youth can make ends meet, not necessarily relying on the government?
Graduates should learn vocations outside their certificates and prioritise their needs. Even individual budgets among the adults too should be re-shaped to accommodate what is only needed. We should encourage, ensure we buy made-in-Nigeria goods. Like I believe, the Nigerian population is a serious market. We wear shoes, most of which come from Dubai and London whereas we have good shoemakers around the country to ensure that our money stays within. By so doing, we can begin to live within our means and hope for better days. These are the only ways nations can be strong. It shouldn’t be just this austerity period alone. I can’t imagine a person driving a N50 million car. For what? Why not create a small enterprise and employ people? Small and medium enterprises are the biggest employers of labour.
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We must reshape our lives. We live very extravagant lives, even more than we need, very wasteful lives and the reason is because of the free money to some people. We must prioritise, kill our preferences and cut cost on all fronts. The current position of the country is a calling from God that we must retrace our steps. Go to the churches and mosques and see the kinds of cars religious leaders drive. What does a clergyman need jets for? Sometimes, people fear to talk because they think they are God; they are never God and cannot be God. Why can’t they enter commercial flights and travel to whatever country they want? We are sick in this country. We see churches and mosques everywhere, yet our attitudes are worse than those of lower animals. The pastors and imams need to re-appraise themselves and look again at what they churn out on Sundays and Fridays.
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