Reversing the current Nigerian economic quagmire must go beyond politics and ethnicity it is a very desperate situation that the country has found itself and desperate times many would say requires desperate measures. Therefore it is time for the government and its entire officials to roll up their sleeves and tighten their belts for the enormous task ahead.
Without wasting much time, I have compiled a list of five(5) must do things if Nigeria is to come out of recession in the shortest possible time.

1 Determination:
The government of Buhari needs to show more commitment not just in words but in action toward steering the economy away from hardships being currently experienced in Nigeria. The government would be assumed to show increased determination when it will first and foremost declare an economic emergency on the economic situation with intention to providing urgent solutions.

The government would also be assumed to show increased determination when it starts to implement policies that would cut down
A: bottlenecks, administrative log jam with a reduced authorization command chain Government bottlenecks must be eliminated, unending protocol should be resolved to make way for snappy and quick decision making. Chains of command must be compacted to make delivery of service fast and efficient. One way in my opinion is to compact all similar MDA’s into a single Agency example like the way he bundled up three ministries into a single ministerial portfolio which Mr. Raji Babatunde Fashola is currently handling and I must confess has been quite successful.
In light of this there should be instead – Agency for law enforcement and domestic security, which would see the Nigeria Police force, Nigeria civil defense, road safety, road safety etc been placed under a single portfolio even if their functions and responsibilities are independent, it would still be more productive if one can get a quick command and organizational response to situation based on the fact that their organizational framework is organized into a common unit.
The same can be said if we had - Agency for transport management and regulation, Agency for infrastructure development and maintenance and so on.
B- Management of resources, government budgets must be spared excesses, high overhead cost or recurrent expenditures. Ephemeral like oversea training, medicals, constant procurement of stationery, and reduction (as explained earlier), of over bloated government agencies that often mirror the duties of each other. Although I must accept the success recorded so far in this regard by the Buhari government but I must advice that such steps must be norm and not the exception. That is these moves must be prioritized and made more widespread and taken more seriously.
C- Value for Money (efficiency personified): one notorious characteristic of Nigeria Ministries, Departments and Agencies is a reputation for gross negligence for their duties, nonchalance, inefficiency, low value service output, corruption and a total systems rot. If we must come out of our economic doldrums in a short while, this deficiency must be corrected with a sense of urgency. I know many might be confused as to what is the correlation between how civil service duties affect the economy.
This arm of government functionality accounts for more than 70 percent of all our government budgetary investment and input. And secondly this unit is generally responsible for the design, monitoring, and implementation of the remaining 30 percent (if it’s even up to) investment in other infrastructural and economy boosting projects. As many are aware of, the Government is still the highest spender in our economic landscape. Therefore is safe to assume that the MDA’s is at the core of all economic activities in Nigeria, and a deficiency in this sector generally affects the economy in more ways than one may assume. If this malady is allowed to persist, we would un-doubtfully see all government projects compromised and all its intervention efforts come to naught with outcomes ever meeting the desire or intended purposes.


For Nigeria to come out of this present economic recession in shortest possible time, this second point is a necessity

2: Aggressive foreign exchange earnings:

with oil accounting for over 90 percent of all our income or foreign exchange receipts, it is no-brainer that the disruption in the price of that commodity must have profound impact in the economy. When other factors are considered, like the fact that Nigeria is major net importer of all its needs, from Agricultural products to machinery which puts a heavy strain in our national income and for the fact that the country has not really have a big savings portfolio, neither does it have lucrative investments or assets we can assume that situation is dire.
In spite of all these gloom, the positive is the fact that the country is blessed with abundant natural resources, raw materials including agricultural products which can be easily exported in both small and large quantities for foreign exchange. The shortage of foreign exchange is the main reason why the recession is biting harder than it should and citizens must take the bull by the horn to meet our foreign exchange demands by cutting down our dependence on imported products and aggressively chasing a foreign exchange regime.
We can start from export of agricultural products like foodstuffs to our highly populous Diaspora community since almost every household have one or two relative who is resident outside the shores of this country mostly in the western nations, we must find a way to sell to them their much missed local foodstuffs and spices or products and services. These set of people are already very used to our products, therefore we must adopt an approach that encourages small to medium quantity exports of these materials as these would easily get past border scrutiny and go pass all limiting commercial export restrictions in place by many countries.
The government has a role to play in making this option very effective by establishing small export processing points in every local government area in the country as this would simplify the process for small and medium exporters in our rural areas, small towns and cities. These export points must be easily accessible, efficient, cheap and easy to use, like a one stop shop for small export packages where goods can be checked, evaluated, packaged and prepared for export and even with provision of transport mechanisms and couriers.
Quota should be allocated as criteria for importation especially by the big time importers which will see them substituting a percentage of their import bill with their export earnings.
Incentives should also be provided to encourage people adopt the method as a means of survival, the drive for small time exporters must be the focus and their participation encouraged. Other aspects that involve the export value chain, like process for owning a domiciliary account must be relaxed and effectively adjusted to reflect government seriousness. And all those who have succeeded in earning foreign exchanges must be encouraged to save their income in the foreign currency they have earned. Taking this approach will effectively reduce the pressure for foreign currency from this sector of the economy, which in my opinion is the most vulnerable.


The 3rd (third) step:

Is a massive skill acquisition establishment. The government is already doing a lot in that regard already so I would not be dwelling much on this aspect. My advice is for the process to be hastened and effectively managed to produce a very equipped individuals who can boast of providing world class products and services as this is the bedrock of any envisaged economic growth.
The process must be continuous and incorporated into our national scheme of things with proper recognition of its importance as a strategic tool for beating the economic recession.

The 4th (fourth) step:
Strategic Government Investment- One positive I must applaud was the sense of investing strategically. There was the very serious investment project like the Nigerian Mortgage and refinancing project and other housing projects, the Fadama Agricultural projects and establishment of free trade zones like the one being commissioned for construction in Delta state. These were very important steps the former government took that are very impressive. I am not saying that these projects are dead in this present Government but I am sure of is that the tempo or importance that this government have placed on such projects are now drastically reduced.
If this administration is very serious which I assume they are in taking us away from economic recession, these project must be re-energized with a high level of priority placed on it.
It is well known fact that one of the most positive investment projects anyone can undertake is the investment in real estate or Housing as its value hardly ever depreciates. When the federal or a state government involves it policies around providing affordable housing and real estate, it would have been able to lift the quality of life of those who have been opportune to get their homes in effect, poverty have been reduced and recession reduced and the government would have been able to invest in a project where its return in investment is guaranteed unlike in the case where it has invested in projects that have provided little investment returns and large investment devaluation with time.
Another critical investment is Agriculture, this is so important we cannot over emphasize on its relevance. From food security, to increased employment opportunity, and foreign exchange earning opportunity and availability of raw materials, it is wise to give this very important aspect a critical investment consideration.
For a short term and immediate outcome in economic turnaround, investments in housing/mortgage and agriculture is a must do.



The 5th (fifth) step- Long term infrastructure development plan:

As I composed this article, I came across a new article which stated that the federal government has concluded plans to establish Nigerian Development Bank. After reading that news item I became optimistic that the government was at least moving in the right direction although at a pace many Nigerians may not be too patient with but the most encouraging fact is that we are heading in the right direction. So what is the fuse about the establishment of this institution some might want to ask? We all are aware that no countries economy prospers in comatose infrastructure, so as a matter of fact any economy that wants properity must do that on a bedrock of quality infrastructure facilities like power, transport facilities, utilities like portable water, efficient communication facilities but one drawback with the procurement of these important facilities, is that they are very expensive to have. In fact if Nigeria was dedicate all its earnings into infrastructure development, it will still be decades before we can boast of decent infrastructures therefore one of the easy ways to go about this problem is dedicate a mechanism were loans are obtained and channeled solely for the purpose of infrastructural developments. In my opinion, large loans should be negotiated with little commitment as possible and flexible long term payback term and these funds channeled exclusively for building of roads, bridges, rails, airports, power generating and distributing stations, potable water and modern communication equipment installations.
If all these few steps are followed to the later with a heart full of zest and determination, it will just be a matter of months that we may be this strained economically and it will mark the beginning into our journey of economic revolution and prosperity.

How to survive and win during economic recession http://www.businessmopol.com/how-to-survive-and-win-during-this-economic-recession/

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