NaijaCowFarm: If you are conversant with the traffic signs, you would understand how they are used in measuring growth and development in economics and finance. The traffic light has three key colours, Green, Yellow and Red. Of these three, Green and Red are the more prominent, in that when the light turns green, you are free to pass the traffic light, but when it is red, it is dangerous to pass.
So, in economic and financial indices, when the numbers are represented in green, you know that the economy is in good shape or growing. However, when it is in the red, you understand that the converse is the case, that is that the economy is in bad shape.
In the last three weeks of Tinubu's regime, the economic indices have been in the "green', howbeit in the Watermelon Syndrome.
Now let me tell you something about the watermelon. This beautiful fruit could be deceptive and fool you if you do not understand its nature. On the outside, the watermelon is green, but deep inside the fruit, it is deep red. So, if you were to use a watermelon to assume your economic performance, you would be fooling yourself. Because, while on the outside or what you see, it is green, deep inside the fruit, it is totally red.
So, if we go back to our traffic light scenario, Tinubu's three weeks in office have made some of his followers to be suffering from the watermelon syndrome. They are busy applauding the greenish outside of the watermelon, whereas the inside is rotten red.
Tinubu has gone through the full cycle of removing petroleum subsidies and at the same time floating the national currency. These are not bad ideas in themselves, but the implementation is totally bad. Moreso that this is happening at the same time and within an economy that is totally import-dependent (consumption), with little production. The government did not at all consider the fact that implementing these economic policies within a space of three weeks could spiral into hyperinflation and ultimately destroy whatever was left of Nigeria's currency. For those who are not familiar with the term hyperinflation, it is a term to describe rapid, excessive, and out-of-control general price increases in an economy. While inflation measures the pace of rising prices for goods and services, hyperinflation is rapidly rising inflation, typically measuring more than 50% per month. A good example is what is happening in Venezuela.
How did we get here? Unfortunately, Tinubu is copycatting Peter Obi's economic policies, but because he never understood the nitty gritty around what Obi harped on various fora, he has just gone ahead to place the cart before the horse. So when I hear statements like the Tinubunomocs, I laugh. Nigerians are in for a very difficult situation and it can only get worse.
I have also read some analysts predicting that the $ would fall to N600, which is a very bad dream, by the way, because floating the Naira and at the same time removing petrol subsidy is a delicate twin for economic destruction and disaster. People are buying petrol at about N550 - N590 per litre now. These are the prices for products imported at the rate of N461 to $1. As of yesterday, I learnt that $1 sold for as high as N815. What that means in simple terms is that if products imported at N461/$ are now being sold at N590, you should brace up because the next imported stock at N763/$ would be selling at N977 per litre (proportionately computed), when you add 7.5% VAT, you would be buying it at N1050 at the pump. So, if you buy at any price below these, know that the subsidy was still being paid.
Quite unfortunate that the people shouting "on your mandate" would soon be out of resonance. The same way some of us warned them about the erstwhile disaster called Buhari and they called us wailers, the same way we warned them about Tinubu. Both men have nothing to offer. Buhari's first coming was the most disastrous of the '80s and his last appearance was the worst so far in Nigeria's history. What about Tinubu? In his 8 years in Lagos, Tinubu only tarred a few roads in Isale-Eko (at the tail-end of his tenure), around Tinubu Square. The mortuary around Marina was smelling so bad that the road was closed. All major roads were in disrepair and all he could do as a governor was to place signposts "This Is Federal Govt Road, Bear With Us". Yet, his agberos were collecting tolls from the same Federal Govt Roads. This is the same man packaged as having developed Lagos, a feat achieved by Fashola and Ambode.
Put simply, Buhari was a very disastrous leader, however, Tunibu would ruin the Nigeria economy finally. He has started so badly and the course he has chosen would see Nigerians poorer. He does not have the capacity to pull this through, except he could begin now to reduce the cost of governance by about 50%, boost productive activities, stop the importation of artificials including medical tourism for which he is a major culprit and sanitize the revenue generation and collection agencies. He is firstly incapacitated because he is himself a fraud and did not get the people's mandate.
At the last count, we had 70 million poor people in the world. In the next two years, Nigeria may be recording over 100 million poorest people alive.
Mabizeka: Hello, glory be to God as I have secured a job for you. I thank God that now you can be gainfully employed and useful. Time to celebrate. Just send your CV ok. Hurry.
Braamfontein is a safe suburb built around the second best university in Africa - WITS - and is a student town.
The University of the Witwatersrand is in Johannesburg, South Africa and is the 2nd best ranked university in Africa after UCT (University of Cape Town).
001Lagos: It's not a bad idea. But let's hope that Tinubu won't deviate from the discussion and be talking about how he peddled drugs in Chicago in the united states back in the days ..
Politics › Re: True Or False:Nigerians Leaders Only Loot, Snap Pictures & Sign Bills by swaggerjack(op): 12:24pm On Jun 22, 2023
