.Insist on nation’s economic potential
this segment can wreck, given the lack of opportunities for self-expression and actualisation (employment, housing, etc).”
With regard to economic reforms, he added: “The greatest challenge facing the Nigerian economy today is one of poor productivity, primarily driven by structural impediments including lack of basic infrastructure (energy – power & fuel, transport, etc). The pains imposed by a big (central) government that acts more as a hindrance than as an enabler to business and commerce means that urgent reforms are required. Whether the piece meal approach to trying to fix these (modest steps taken towards improving ease of business) will have the needed impact remain to be seen (more like just hope).”
Ndukauba urged Nigeria to borrow a leaf from India, in terms of reforms, saying: “India gave the world an example of what it means to embark on major reforms with the launch of the harmonised tax system only a few days ago. We are paying a lot of lip service to our challenges with different interest groups subverting the efforts of government & by so doing, “cutting their noses to spite their faces.” On his part, an Economist and Investment Banker, Bayo Rotimi, who is also the Chief Executive Officer of Quest Advisory Services Limited, said: “I understand the anxiety around the political situation, movement in oil prices. These are things that we are aware of. If there are problems in those areas, then the nation’s economy may be adversely affected.
“On the optimistic side, oil prices in the last six months have remained reasonably steady. We have not breached the threshold of the budget. The EIU tends to be pessimistic. I don’t agree with their position on the ERGP. As always, everything is a function of implementation. Let us judge the government on the ability to implement what they ha ve outlined to do. We can do this quarterly or otherwise. Though the challenges are there, Nigeria has passed through this road before.
“The report did not reflect gains made in the first half of the year, especially in the area of non-oil export and the expected impact of the executive orders in the months to come. In terms of inflation, I believe Nigeria’s inflation will close lower than the projected 17 per cent. I reckon between 13 and 15 per cent is where we will close. The report did not also reflect the changes in the economy, especially in the export window . This is outside the oil inflows.