Opinion: People, Priority Priority and Public Policy

Last week, here, we said that we might have been on the track that the Nigerian President’s regime, Alhaji Bola Ahmed Tinubu, has brought us in the last 27 months through the economic reform agenda. We write that economic reforms currently have a striking similarity with the military president, General Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida [IBB’s] Structural adjustment program [SAP] from the mid-1980s. Next we were nicknamed the Tinubu SAP 2.0 program. The main board of the Babangida economic recovery agenda that he introduced in 1986 was economic diversification to reduce Nigeria’s dependence on crude oil revenue; development of non-miny sectors such as agriculture, manufacturing, and services; to restore fiscal discipline by applying saving steps, curbing government spending, and controlling inflation; Naira’s devaluation to make exports more competitive, encourage foreign investment, and reduce trade imbalances; Market liberalization by reducing government intervention and control in the designated sectors to promote more market-based economic systems; to privatize state -owned companies so that the private sector will be encouraged to encourage economic development that is expected to promote efficiency and productivity; to stimulate economic growth by increasing the allocation of resources and utilization; Increasing Nigeria’s standard of living through poverty reduction; to increase government income by expanding and expanding the tax base; And, to increase the allocation of resources and utilization for sustainable economic development. Does the direction of the economic policy above sound familiar to adults in the DPR? Is this déjà vu? Fast reminder: This will be 40 years, next year, because Babangida introduces and implements its own economic reform agenda. What are the benefits? How is that ending? How much pain does it cause to Nigerians? If successful, why are we still in our place now? The answer to the question is clear. And we will explore some of them after the current gamble.

As we said before, the Tinubu economic reform agenda is SAP 2.0. SAP 1.0 failed, and the reason why Babangida failed could not have happened to the sap of Tinubu, even though he cleverly avoided it by the right name for fear of reaction and pushback by the Nigerians. So why is Babangida, a military rulers who sat on the order and controlled the military/government structure for about nine years, failed with his own sap after placing the Nigerians through so much pain 39 years ago? Could it be because the sap did not get support from citizens? Yes, that’s some of the reasons. It also suffers from poor implementation. There is no doubt that it is worn externally shortly after a play called the national debate about whether to adopt the program or not done. It is not well planned or deliberately and faithfully executed. Unwanted consequences that should be predicted and the provisions made to alleviate them take great victims of this program. Must involve that the ongoing economic program is wrestling with the same problem from unwanted consequences, lack of buy-in, and poor implementation. The purpose of SAP also failed to be realized because of the poor and weak infrastructure of the country. In 1986 Nigerian infrastructure was not sufficient to be developed to support program objectives. Is there any evidence today that the country’s public facilities are strong and strong enough to support a drastic surgical procedure and is indeed reckless to the country’s fragile economy and most of the informal? Can what happens is equated using a chainsaw for brain surgery? Corruption Lapang Babangida sap, and inhibits its effectiveness. Is this monster tamed? Is it able to handle a dead blow in Nigeria?

With successful administration, corruption becomes more pervasive. It has been recommended in several places that the regime that still exists is a paradise for corrupt politicians and civil servants and their collaborators. It is a famous fact that some of these government leaders are suspects in the Naira Multi-Military Fraud case before their files are easily forgotten and allowed to collect dust on shelves called anti-corruption agencies, Economic and Financial Crime Commission [EFCC] and independent corruption practices and other related violation commissions [ICPC]When they take over the political office through the appointment of nepotistics or elections that are cheated. Ahead of the 2019 elections, the former APC national chairman who is currently in the Federal Republic Senator reportedly said in public that the sin -dose, including the looting of the Ministry of Finance by office holders and opposition politicians, would be forgotten and forgiven once they joined the ruling party. Seven years later, the offer was still on the table, and suspected and confirmed that corrupt politicians had enjoyed ‘amnesty’ with harming Nigerians. Now it is very bad that the Governor of the State, members of the State and National Council Parliament are peddling and the trade mandate given to them on the party platform -the opposition party to seek assistance and protection from APC. It sounds like what is obtained in the world of mafia. And this could be one of the reasons why the new court in Canada was reportedly equating the dominant political parties of Nigeria – APC and PDP – with terrorist organizations. These parties developed in considering the Nigerians as hostages, who intimidated citizens, extracting the oaths of loyalty and loyalty to their leadership, violence and bloodshed. PDP used to have a cult leader or capone when in power at the center. APC is still possible because now controls the federal government.

Meanwhile, such as SAP Babangida, Tinubu’s SAP 2.0 is mainly focused on the steps of economic savings without saying it publicly. At the beginning of the economic program, there was no attention paid to foster a harsh and inevitable fall of the agenda. Not much has been done in this case since 2023, banning student loan schemes. Other palliatives such as conditional cash transfer to poor people from households and poor individuals, and access to funding for small scale companies have suffered from credibility problems. In fact, its implementation has been determined by allegations of political alignments and verification challenges. Even the list of beneficiaries from cash transfer is only in the implementing cabinet. Anyone who wants to judge the store set by this regime to help the poor and vulnerable, that person must see the state of the Ministry of Humanity Affairs. The minister of the ministry under the past regime that failed in Muhammadu Buhari was in court on charges of financial fraud when he was in the office. His successor, another woman this time under Tinubu, was the first person suspended from the office by the regime as well as charges of financial deviations. The suspension has lasted for almost two years. He hasn’t been fired, and his suspension has not been appointed. About a year ago he was called by EFCC to be interrogated on charges of fraud in the ministry. There was no evidence that he had been charged with court. The minister’s slot remains empty for a long time in front of a successor, this time a man is appointed. But the man has also been deleted, and promoted as the new Chair of the National APC. Other government institutions that can have a positive impact on the poor are no better. So the poor choke and strangle under the weight of SAP 2.0. The screams are getting louder than many segments of the community so that the regime backs up and more concentrated on the provision of safety nets for the people. Will it listen and reflect and of course true? It is impossible because this regime is right in his own eyes.

Furthermore, excessive dependence on external factors is proven to be the heel of Achilles from SAP 1.0. The hope under Babangida is that the agenda of its economic reform will succeed in the power of the entertainment of foreign investment, and assistance from donor institutions and countries. Hope is not realized. So the agenda falls. The situation is worse now with a clear Fatique Donor in the international community. One of the biggest donor agents is the United States International Development Agency [USAID]. For all purposes and objectives, the agency has been canceled by a new government in America led by non -conventional President Donald Trump. The adverse effects of this development have been projected to be told in underdeveloped countries like Nigeria. Food assistance, support for health care and others will experience a big hit. The disappearing support from donors will put further pressure on Nigerian financial resources that are already limited and other countries that are in the same category. The prospects for financial welfare many backward countries do not look good. Indeed, they are scary. The fact that Tinubu almost lives abroad is suspected of pursuing foreign investors, loans and assistance, and visiting Nigeria sometimes not bear significant results. And maybe not in terms of investment and assistance. For loans, we tend to get them with payments that we will kick on the road for our children, grandchildren, and great -grandchildren.

In the closing section of the intervention for this month, we will analyze how the developing Nigerian debt, the deeper the cost of the life crisis, the currency devaluation, the increase in sadness and despair among the Nigerians, the reduced trust in democracy, general distrust of politicians, among others, will most likely become a strong person, even become headwinds.

Author: Ugo onuoha

The article published in our graffiti section is the opinion of the writers and does not represent Nigerian ripple views or the editorial booths.