Nigeria’s economic managementbetween hindsight and rascality

Nigerians are angry; justifiably so. They say a hungry man is an angry man. The economy has gone down south and Nigerians aren’t finding it funny. The problem is that we are now in lynching mood, baying for the blood of anyone whom we could find remotely culpable. Nothing wrong with that. After all, alongside the quest for, or the luck to find thrust upon one, public office - especially in this country - is tantamount to public opprobrium. Aside from the likelihood of making loads of money (for which you may be probed and wrecked in the near future), and having considerable influence, one wonders at times why anybody would seek the trouble of a Nigerian public office.

Nigerians have all the rights to complain, rave and rant, and to call for the heads of those whom they deem culpable for their predicament. But in this peculiar instance, not all Nigerians are equal. We have now reached a point where our people no longer introspect; where many of yesterday’s men, who are indeed a major part of our problem, are busy riding on public sentiments to launder their own image, or lull the public to a state of somnambulism. It gets even worse. Recently, the committee of former GMDs of NNPC (what a lucky bunch), met with the incumbent and declared that Nigerians were not paying enough for Premium Motor Spirit. They dared to touch - at the risk of their immense wealth and luck - a topic as volatile as the underlying product. Nigerians were asking; are these guys saying we have not suffered enough?

Before the lucky GMDs, there were two ex Central Bank governors who had made statements with varying intensities on the matter of how the economy is being run. Professor Soludo was more measured. He asked for restructuring, and pushed some of the tenets of liberalization. He recommended industrialization and spoke of development planning. Then came Emir Sanusi, who was more acerbic. This man is irrepressible and not even his royal robes could hold him down. He spoke about Nigerian big men who do what accountants call “teeming and lading” with bank loans; using their influence to collect from one to repay another and living large until they cause systemic banking crisis. He also spoke about government having created room for unnecessary arbitrage opportunities for the same smart Alecs through its FX policies. The Emir however contradicted himself when he started to push for neo-liberal policies which I recall he fought against while CBN Governor (you know, all that talk of market being everything and so on. Sanusi fought against devaluation under his watch but now vilifies the CBN for not “fully floating the Naira”).

I believe that real intellection and love for country demands that we take our economic debates to a new level. It wouldn’t have been bad if these ex-Central Bank governors actually admitted how tough they found governance and national economics in their time, and put current challenges within that context. This is important because of one inalienable fact; the job of central bankers is a losing game. They usually commit to catch so many rats in a room and many times end up catching NONE. It would be great if these gentlemen explained to Nigeria If anyone should be cautious and introspect in my view, it is Dino, whose cars alone could be worth a billion naira or two. But here we are, in a situation where everyone who should be contrite now leverages on the misfortune of Nigeria’s suffering masses; and the millions who have lost their jobs and are now in despair how impossible it is to keep track of the value of the Naira while also ensuring that interest rates and inflation stays down. It would have been great if they showed us how tough it was for them - in their times - to maintain financial sector stability, monetary autonomy, and make policies for the growth of the economy, while strategically intervening in critical sectors. For me, they would have been greater and better for subtly revealing their own vulnerabilities and being very choosy with their words while criticizing the incumbent.

As far as central banking is concerned, the last two in Nigeria were forced out. One directly, the other indirectly. Many Nigerians had no good words for both of them. As a matter of fact, after Abdulkadir Ahmed spent 11 years as CBN Governor between 1982 and 1993, none of his successors have had their tenures renewed. Paul Ogwuma spent 5 years and 5 months, Joseph Sanusi completed a 5 years term, ditto for Chukwuma Soludo. Sanusi was not allowed to complete his 5 years term as he was relieved 3 months hitherto. Over recent years, the concept of relative central bank independence grew and I believe this must be protected, more so as we had our own nasty experience at some point when a military leader was alleged to have had his children collecting truckloads of money from the apex bank. The issue with comments from former central bank governors is that they made it sound as if it is easy work. In my view, it is an impossible task.

That is where Senator Melaye comes in. a relatively young guy, Melaye’s profile has soared in recent years as he rapidly progressed from being a member of the house of Representative and now a Distinguished Senator. He has also declared his intention to be the President of the Federal Republic. In terms of ambition, Dino has no shortage. And as an orator and motivator, it is hard to find a Nigerian that parallels him. His commentary on the ongoing economic crisis took me aback as he pulled no punches at all. If anyone should be cautious and introspect in my view, it is Dino, whose cars alone could be worth a billion naira or two. But here we are, in a situation where everyone who should be contrite now leverages on the misfortune of Nigeria’s suffering masses; and the millions who have lost their jobs and are now in despair. Dino himself knows that he is merely good with high-sounding words and an ability to confuse the public.

The man called for President Buhari to “stop barking and start biting”, a shocking analogy that compares the poor old president to a dog - or kukuma calls him one. This is Africa. Anyone who tells his father to “stop barking and start biting”, is but a bastard. I thought Melaye was smarter, and I wonder what intra-party feud made him basically insult the president in this manner. Even we that are not close to the corridors of power dare not accuse the president of “barking” not even from afar. Melaye did. The presidency has said nothing about that. Our children have learnt that nothing is wrong with telling elders to stop barking; in an age where our traditional wisdoms have almost all eroded. Some recent experiments I conducted revealed to me that among Nigerians from ages 1 to 30, those folk adages of ours, those deep-rooted advices, are all but gone. They don’t just understand them the way we did. Will Dino get away with insulting the president to whose party he belongs? Or has he already? More next week.