Staccato one-legged dance on the economy front

One of the most iconic images of the present administration was the picture of President Muhammadu Buhari appearing in military fatigue during his recent visit to Zamfara State. He had gone there to pep up the spirit of the gallant Nigerian soldiers in their mission to clean up that state of miscreants, who have made life unbearable for the citizens there in recent times. Having retired from the Nigerian Army as a Major General in 1985, the smile on his face during the recent trip, as he bantered with his comrades-in-arms being the Generals surrounding him, and his measured military parade steps he defied age to maintain, radiated a sense of fulfilment which only old soldiers relish when they remember the song “if you have never been a soldier before … you will never, never, be happy”.

For many Nigerians who voted for President Muhammadu Buhari in March 2015,undisguised is their wish that the sure footedness displayed during the Zamfara outing can be replicated in the administration’s efforts to grapple with the nation’s economy where so far the story has featured little more than a series of knee jerk initiatives. Usually conceived with high expectations and strong appeal to the Nigerian masses, much of these initiatives have been swinging to a staccato beat of jump, stop, dance, stop,…

The fortunes of the Nigerian economy under the present administration in these past 14 months have attracted mixed reactions from equally different shades of opinion both within and outside the borders of the country. While some hail the government for raising the hope of Nigerians for a better economic future through sweet sounding and inspirational rhetoric, other more discreet observers advocate caution, as they are yet to see any cause for cheer. The latter misgiving derives from the fact that after two annual budget seasons (June - December 2015 and January - July 2016) under the superintendence of the Buhari administration, the economy is yet to identify a path out of the woods, not to talk of stepping into recovery lane.

The situation is not helped by the sequence of discordant tones coming from the President and some of the voices of the administration. For instance while the Minister of Information and National Orientation Lai Mohamed, along with the media aide to the Vice President Mr Laolu Akande are busy serving Nigerians with largely unhelpful doses of propaganda on the economy, the President personally accentuated recently, the unsteady run of the same economy in his choice of words while receiving a Moroccan envoy Mr. Nasser Buoritaqua. Buhari had reportedly told his guest that the Nigerian economy was hanging on the cliff, with the managers trying to restart it all over again. Such words coming at this stage in the life of the administration are hardly comforting to the hard pressed Nigerian masses. And as had been stated severally before, this situation remains a far cry from what Nigerians voted for. This point is critically instructive to the present leadership if it must remain on top of its game.

Nevertheless, against the President’s candour stands in bold relief the indefensible positions of both Lai Mohamed and Laolu Akande. For instance, Lai Mohamed had unkind words for those who see planlessness in the administration’s handling of the economy, describing them as ‘ignorant’. Akande however was more forthcoming when he volunteered the hint that the administration is deliberately sidelining the private sector from its economic management team. According to him, the Presidency considered the management of the economy a government responsibility. “It’s not something that this government believes should be done by bringing in some of the private interests into the economic team to take a decision that they’ll be directly involved with. So, our stand is that the management of the economy is a government responsibility,” Granted that this is true of the state of affairs, it implies that the administration is running the economy with as much wisdom as in dancing dexterously with one leg, even when the other one is available and fit. Only a staccato beat fits such a risky enterprise.

It is trite economic thought that only a warped logic can justify the deliberate exclusion of the private sector in the management of any economy.This is because any economy, no matter its level of fragmentation or regimentation (Nigeria’s inclusive) comprises the two components of public and private sectors. While the public sector drives the macro imperatives in the economy, the private sector remains the engine room for the private sector, and the best results occur when these two sectors synergise towards a common goal.

By Akande’s revelation the administration is running the Nigerian economy with the mainstream of the private sector out in the cold. It is therefore difficult to see it beyond wallowing in self-denial and a delusive comfort zone that is bereft of the optimal contributions of its better half - the private sector. Little wonder that things are the way they are today.

However, Nigerians need to show further sympathy for the President given that his ultimate forte is not in the management of the economy, but soldiering. As is crystal clear, some of his lieutenants have abused the privilege granted them by the President to mis-launch the economy on a trajectory that is far from the destination he has a compact with the Nigerian masses to arrive at. This much is evident from the inanities swirling around the 2016 budget whose prospects for implementation are hanging in the air.

Yet all is not lost as he has a fallback position being the same 2016 budget.The President can still redeem much of the lost ground by revisiting the issue of robust implementation of the largely abandoned 2016 budget. No matter whatever may be claimed by the administration as its achievements with respect to the budget, the general impression by Nigerians in various walks of life is that it is a qualified failure.

To add flesh to the peoples’ fears, the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF) Mr Babachir Lawal told the Senate that the country’s revenue loss is as much as 40% of the initial budget projection. While he joined the hackneyed sing song that the global fall in oil prices is responsible for such a situation, the stand qualifies as a sad commentary on the quality of anticipation that goes into routine budget framing and management in the country.

It is in the context of the foregoing that the present administration should revisit its change vision and initiate a new deal for Nigeria’s economy, by adopting a consensus driven approach in which all stakeholders shall be involved. The best results from Nigeria’s economy shall flow when all actors are provided matching roles as dancers in a dance routine, moving in unison as one.