Nigerians must bear the pain of fixing economy –Presidency

The presidency has fully acknowledged that the Nigerian economy is in shambles, but is also optimistic that it can be fixed.

The Presidency however warned that like a broken leg that has to be mended; Nigerians must bear the pains that come with the healing process before things can get better.

Mr. Garba Shehu, the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, stated this in a very lengthy statement on Friday, even as he continued to blame the nation’s current economic woes on the immediate past administration.

He said “The simple explanation is that the economy was broken, and just as they do the broken leg, you must bear the pain of fixing it. The current situation was caused by years of mismanagement and corruption.”

Shehu who went on to reel out what the Muhammadu Buhari-led government is doing to revive the economy, said “Against this backdrop, I sought to hear our erudite Finance Minister Kemi Adeosun on where we are coming from, vis-a-vis the administration’s chosen path to recovery and accelerated growth. What is the administration doing to revitalize the economy? She spoke at length on the many measures being put in place, many of which are not glamorous. They of necessity come with pain. Why should Nigerians be asked to endure pains? Why should they be asked to make adjustments?

Read also: Recession: PDP refuses to shut up, insists Buhari is incompetent

“As explained by President Buhari again and again, trumpeted by Madam Adeosun and other senior officials, we solely relied on oil, the price of which was as high as US$140 per barrel. Government simply reticulated oil revenue through personal spending by corrupt leaders, wasteful expenses and salaries. This was done rather than investing in what would grow the economy. Economies grow due to capital investment in assets like seaports, airports, power plants, railways, roads and housing. Nigeria has not recorded a single major infrastructural project in the last 10 years. In short the money was mismanaged.

According to him, “To avoid repeating the past mistakes, Nigerians must come to terms with what went wrong with the past, how bad were things, what was done wrongly, what the past government should have done, before we come to what needs to be done to right those wrongs. Believe me, episodes from the Jonathan era can fill books, and other possibilities such as courtroom drama thriller.”

He also noted that “There are many who say that this Government’s economic strategy is unclear whereas the previous government seemed well co-ordinated. I will make the confession that we, the officials hired to communicate government policies, that includes myself, have not done as well as we should have.

“The truth is that more than any other time before, there is a clear direction and strategy for achieving growth and development. Revisionists may not agree, but the truth of the matter is that the previous administration only had one issue, which was how to spend money (oil revenues and borrowed money). As mentioned earlier this spending was focused on the wrong things and even though the economy seemed to be growing it was not sustainable, it was, as described by Minister Adeosun, a classic “boom and bust”’ driven solely by the oil price.

“Unemployment was and remained high (never forget the NIS jobs that exploited thousands of desperate graduates in a scam that was used to fund house purchases in highbrow areas and claimed so many lives).

“Inequalities were growing (our then President boasted about the highest number of private jets when most Nigerians could barely afford to eat).Terrorism and social unrest were growing. Real development was lacking. As soon as the oil price fell, these vulnerabilities were exposed”, he stated

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