By Otori Ozigi
The point must be made at this juncture that am not an economist by any stretch of imagination.
However, as a well informed journalist, I have a fair knowledge of the dynamics of economic issues.
There is no gainsaying that the country is going through unprecedented economic woes and untold hardships by the citizenry.
In the last couple of months,I have written tonnes and tonnes of thought-provoking features on the lingering economic quagmire and the attendant hardships being faced by over 200 million citizens in the country today.
Essentially, the government of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu is on the right track in addressing these socioeconomic challenges in the country.
It is expected from the citizens to be patient with him as he grapples with the challenges of governance.
We may need to remind ourselves that the country is neck- deep in the economic mess, bequeathed to us by the previous administration of President Muhammadu Buhari.
The removal of fuel subsidy by the present administration is a policy which became a necessity and inevitable because of the negative narrative of the oil subsidy regime, that was benefiting only a microscopic segments of the country.
There is no gainsaying that a lot of money is being saved from the fuel subsidy removal.
The fundamental question begging for answers is that how is this money being utilized to engender economic prosperity and growth in the infrastructural architecture in the country.
It is not enough to continue with the ongoing equitable sharing of the proceeds of fuel subsidy removal, among the three tiers of government by the federation allocation account committee,FAAC,on a monthly basis, as it is being done presently.
It has become imperative for the federal government to come up with a far reaching and comprehensive economic blueprint on the utilization of proceeds and gains of fuel subsidy removal.
By now, we expect the CNG buses promised by the federal government to start arriving the country, in a bid to boost public transportation in the country.
It is an incontrovertible fact that one of the major causes of the hyper inflation and food insecurity in the country today, is the high cost of public transportation in the country.
The prices of essential commodities have hit the rooftops because of the high cost of transporting these products from one destination point to another, before it is finally available in the various markets in the country.
Another economic measure to be considered is the need for the government at all levels, to immediately go into commercial agriculture, just as it is very imperative for incentives to be granted to individuals interested in becoming commercial agriculturists
The time has come for Nigerians to become more productive, patriotic and nationalistic in our lifestyles and the taste for foreign goods and services.
Nigerians should be encouraged to eat only what we can grow in the country.
The task of achieving food security is a collective responsibility of Nigerians.
The nefarious activities of murderous Fulani herdsmen and bandits should be reduced to the bearest minimum,so that our farmers can go back to their farm lands.
Our security agents,, particularly the Nigerian Customs and the immigration service, should shun all corruption tendencies and give proper and adequate attention to all ongoing smuggling of goods and agricultural produce across the nation’s boarders.
There is no denying the fact that smuggling activities have continued across our porous boarders because of the apparent complicity of our security agents who is saddled with the responsibility to secure our boarders.
Let there be massive redeployment of these security agents at the boarders, without further delay.
It has also become imperative for the management of our forex exchange market to seek new policies to curb the present forex crisis.
The real solution to this hydraheaded forex debacle lyies in our ability to shore up the value of f our local currency.
We are tired of this half-hearted fiscal and monetary policies being implemented by our economic team today, that is not working, abinitio.
All the stakeholders in the economic and fiscal sectors should roll up their sleeves and come up with workable solutions to the present forex crisis in the country.
It is time for a new beginning by Nigerians.
All those who are profiteering from the high cost of essential commodities by creating artificial scarcities should stop.
Nigeria can only achieve greatness of we change our ways.
May God help our leaders to succeed.
Let’s us be patient with President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, with a large dose of perseverance.
Evidently, he is on the right track.
No sweet, without sweat
Otori Ozigi, a veteran journalist and PR Consultant, writes from Okene, Kogi State.
08083295000–SMS only.
