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The Failing Buharinomics by brenister10: 11:02am On May 14, 2016 |
Buharinomics, Fuel Price Increment and the
Concept of Governance
Let me be blunt from the beginning. The
Buharis government has no known and
articulate economic blueprint on how to
manage and restructure the Nigerian economy
to benefit the mass of the people. From the
president himself (Buhari), his Vice (Osinbajo),
Minister of Finance (Kemi Adeosun), Central
Bank of Nigeria Governor (Emefiele) and
Minister of Petroleum Resources, none of
them as individuals or economic team has put
forward a robust, well-articulated and
reasonable economic framework to address
the present economic challenges and situation
being faced by Nigerians. Arguments of
manage the pains, endurance, belt tightening,
bright future and other sweet sounding words
are mere words that buys and sells nothing!
These refrains has become so routine and
meaningless, that it shows no creativity
associated with Nigerians on the part of
Buhari and his handlers. Successive
governments have said the same thing over
and over that it that it sounds hollow and
irritating. Successive Nigerian governments
are sounding like broken records when they
introduce half-baked economic policies that
further destroys the fundamentals of the
economy and disarticulate the socio-existenti
al realities of Nigerians. Furthermore, such
appeals and reasons shows cluelessness that
is associated with Mr Jonathan, the
immediate former president!
As we speak and as of today, for example,
there is no clear cut, viable and well defined
policy on Nigeria’s currency, whether to
devalue, shore up it or take steps to address
it. What you hear from Osinbajo yesterday is
that the naira will be devalued and today, you
hear Emefiele saying that the naira has not
and will not be devalued. Of course, you hear
something totally different from the president
himself, all giving the impression of a house
uncoordinated and divided against itself. It
goes without saying that the Buhari’s
government and the individuals in it needs to
sit down, brainstorm and come up with a
workable policy framework that is identifiable
and implementable that would lift Nigerians
from their present economic doldrums as well
as the need for its economic players to speak
with one voice as instead of the cacophony of
voices that makes no sense as the present
situation is. That is the art of governance. The
currency issue explained above, as an
example, is a one aspect of the economy to
drive our point that Buhari’s government do
not have any economic blueprint or any policy
framework to solve the present economic
meltdown occasioned by years of misrule and
mis-governance, accentuated by the immediate
past regime profligacy. It did not take Obama
years to come up with a bailout plan when he
noticed the likely recession and joblessness
staring American economy and workers in the
face when he came to power. Denial of the
parlous state of Nigerian economic reality as
well as obduracy, arrogance and associated
profligacy (Mr 13 Million naira Lai Mohamed)
in the corridors of power will only push
Nigeria more into economic doldrums. Thus,
what is the economic framework to stimulate,
production, manufacturing, investment,
finance and consumption as well other critical
segments of the Nigerian economy? What is
the role of government, institutions and
individuals our economic setup? How do we
reduce the cost of governance such that the
overhead cost of maintaining the National
Assembly and bloated executive arm of
government can come down? How has our
terms and balance of trade fared within the
structure of the international economic
system? Answers to these and other questions
will help identify and chart the pathway to an
economic framework that is feasible, workable
and achievable. In one of our next article, I
will attempt a diagnosis of the problems of
Nigerian economy and the likely solutions that
can get us out the woods provided there is a
political will power to implement the policy
recommendations. This will lead us to the next
segment of our analysis which is the fuel
price increment, wrongly put out and assumed
to be fuel subsidy removal.
It is important to state that the recent
increment in fuel (petrol) is NOT a SUBSIDY
REMOVAL nor is it DEREGULATION. It is none
of the above. It is a PRICE HIKE with room for
further increment if and when the need arises.
The statement by the minister of petroleum,
Kachukwu on the increment of price of petrol
to 145 naira demonstrates his lack of
understanding of the issues and basic
economics. It also shows the deceit by which
Nigerian leaders rule and the seemingly lack
of understanding of public service and concept
of governance. Nigerian leaders at all levels
would rather tell lies, emotional appeals,
engage subterfuge- as demonstrated in the
artificial scarcity to justify this unreasonable
increment- and sheer brute force to justify an
obviously not well thought plan; economic or
otherwise. Thus what Buhari and his handlers
have done is to arbitrarily fix and jerk up the
price of petrol (fuel) to generate income for
financing the budget. Mark my words, other
avenues would be exploited to further generate
revenue to execute the budget and maintain
their opulent lifestyles. To argue that the
government has deregulated or partially
deregulate the sector is a deliberate
misinformation because in a deregulated
environment, bodies like the PPPRA and other
interventionist bodies would cease to exist
and naturally disappear. Price would be
determined by market forces and government
would only act as regulator. NNPC would
become one of the players/competitor and not
big brother Nigeria. Therefore, what the
government has done is to test the waters and
see the reactions of the populace. As earlier
noted, further increment may be contemplated
in due course as the door has been opened by
tying the increment to currency issues typified
by government helplessness and
hopelessness. To increase the price to 145
naira while crude oil sells for about 46.23
dollars per barrel as of today, shows the
increment is arbitrary, self-serving, wicked and
not found on any sound economic template.
Buharinomics is simply an economics of trial
and error! In other words, Buharinomics is an
economics of per chance!
Yet Nigeria finds herself in this situation by
deliberate choice through lack of vision,
corruption and parasitic elites that has held
this nation by the jugular. The monies spent
on the so called unending Turn Around
Maintenance (TAM) of the old and non
performing refineries in Nigeria could have
been used to build more than 10 medium
modular refineries. TAM monies ended up in
private pockets without anyone paying for the
crime. Arguments for and against APC
position on fuel subsidy in 2012 just goes to
show and confirm my earlier position that the
political class in Nigeria is shameless, lacks
integrity, normless and would do anything to
get and access power. They are all the same
wither in PDP or APC. Banking on Buhari
being a sort of built up moral Gulliver among
immoral and decadent Lilliputians in the
Nigerian society, appeals by Tinubu, Osinbajo
and El Rufai among others to the populace is
becoming meaningless and the political
capital (trust) alluded to by El Rufai to this
government by Nigerians is fast being washed
away. Only their die hard supporters would
believe their yarns! Revelations of profligacy
by Buhari, his ministers including Mr Lagos
Borehole Fashola and 13 million naira
Mohammed, unjustified electricity tariff
increment leading to more blackout, proposed
increment in taxes without corresponding
benefits, stamp duty tax curtailing/dampening
investment and the continuation/acerbation of
the old ways of doing things, vividly shows
that Buharinomics of trial and error and his
per chance economics is not working. And this
shows a poignant lack of the understanding of
the concept of governance among Nigerian
leaders at all levels.
Nigerians wake up! |
Re: The Failing Buharinomics by nkenu(m): 11:23am On May 14, 2016 |
This Love letter is very long ooo !!! |
Re: The Failing Buharinomics by Almajiri1: 11:32am On May 14, 2016 |
We need renaissance men to pilot our affairs and not a medieval buhari and rogue APC. |
Re: The Failing Buharinomics by brenister10: 9:12pm On May 14, 2016 |
Almajiri1: Yes fellow Nigerian |
(1) (Reply)
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