Welcome back Mr. president

By Joseph Edgar… I would like to send my good wishes to you Mr. president as you resume work after an extended medical vacation. The fact that, in your absence, we witnessed a spurt of growth in our economic indices, including a resurgent Naira only goes to show the kind of structure you have put in place that ensures a continuity even in the absence of the Commander-in-chief.

You see, the struggle for any democracy is the institutionalization of processes, the dymistification of the cult of personality and the enthronement of internationally accepted due processes in decision taking and policy execution.

What we have achieved as a nation during this your long stay was the maturity of our democratic processes. We did not see a collapse in government despite all sort of rumours and fear mongering. Policy decisions were implemented, the government’s signature anti corruption policy maintained its course and, apart from the skirmishes in the southern part of Kaduna, we witnessed relative peace.

This could only be as a result of the maturity of the democratic institutions but much more importantly as a result of your personal leadership style which, in my own estimation, did not give room for informal subterfuge by the ever present band of sycophants that daily surround the seat of power.

As you settle down, you must immediately continue the good work on the economy, fueling the strengthening of the Naira which would in turn begin to sign-post the reversal of the continuing recession. The fall in the Naira has obviously impacted very negatively on the economy and jobs, plus inflation with the latest victim being the giant Etisalat which is today owing a consortium of banks despite having over 21m subscribers. They have come out to state that they can no longer meet up there loan obligations becuase of the value of the Naira which is now by far lower than what they estimated at the point of disbursement. This, coupled with the dwindling expenditure power of the public servants and stringent competition for that shrinking wallet share, you will begin to graphically see the problem with not only Etisalat but Nigerian businness in general.

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The little achievement which in my own estimation remains pyrrhic must be sustained. What the CBN has done so far, is to continue to push more forex into the market, opening up the formal banking system to the disbursement of BTA, medical and school fees. This has increased supply and reduced pressure on the parallel market with attendant effect on the value of the Naira. This at best is short term because it is derived by the increase in oil prices as a result of the the OPEC policy on quota regulation. We are still spending without producing. We are not saving and only just pumping in the ‘excess’dollar for the continuation of extravagant and avoidable expenditure.

I saw a report recently that shows a little increase in export earnings. This is an area you must look closely at. How do we galvanize export earnings away from oil? How do we build on this recent gains and exponentially increase our export earnings? A massive inflow from export earnings leading to an increase in the value of Naira is much more desirable fall out than what we are having now.

Furthermore, I think in the last two years of this tenure, you should concentrate more on the economy. The corruption ballet is on auto pilot and, once again, well done for the whistle blowing policy which has driven up recoveries. So, now let’s divert these monetary gains into the economy as soon as the judicial processes are complete. The economy should be your main focus for I suspect that would be the platform the Presidency come 2019 would be fought on.

The economy unites everybody. There is no ethnicity or religion when it comes to economic hardship. Everybody is united and speaks the same language. This is perfect timing for a cabinet shake-up. It’s mid term and those who do not have the capacity to understand what is going on and what needs to be done must be shown the way out. A much more economically responsive team be built and empowered to derive policies with the sagacity to execute.

I will not like to stress you as you have only just returned, but will like to wish you continuous recovery and good health as you set forth to consolidate on the advancement your administration has recorded the past few months.

 

 

 

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