Nigerians appeal to FG to review economic policies

Many Nigerians have appealed to the Federal Government to review its economic policies, saying they are causing severe hardship for citizens.

Their appeal is against the backdrop of the World Bank’s recommendations for the Federal Government to sustain its economic policies for the next 10 to 15 years to achieve long-term growth and development.

Some residents of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) and economic experts who spoke to the newsmen on Thursday, said the policies should be reviewed and adjusted based on Nigeria’s peculiar circumstances.

Supreme News recalls that Indermit Gill, the Senior Vice-President of the World Bank Group while speaking at the 30th Nigerian Economic Summit, said that the Nigerian government should sustain its ongoing economic policies.

“Nigeria must stay the course for another 10 to 15 years of focused reforms. The difficult decisions taken today will not yield immediate results, but they will set the foundation for a more prosperous and stable Nigeria,” he said.

Also, Alex Sienaert, World Bank’s Lead Economist for Nigeria, at the unveiling of the Bank’s latest Nigeria Development Update (NDU) Report, said the Nigerian government should maintain a tight monetary policy.

Sienaert said other recommendations from the bank were for the government to continue removing fuel subsidies and unification of the exchange rate.

However, he said the bank advised the government to increase transparency in the oil sector, cut waste and direct spending to targeted poverty programmes while sticking to realistic budgets to avoid unplanned spending.

Mr Deji Adebowale, a businessman, said that the advice from the World Bank was unfair and unreasonable especially because of the effects the policies were having on Nigerians.

“ The World Bank is saying that these policies that are causing untold hardship to Nigerians should continue.

“Since the removal of fuel subsidy, inflation has been on a continuous increase, food and transportation costs have skyrocketed, many Nigerians can barely feed, and you say these should continue for 10 years.

“This is just being unreasonable. How can you see how Nigerians are suffering, and you say the suffering should continue?

“I appeal to the Federal Government to rethink these policies, especially the fuel subsidy removal which has brought nothing but suffering to Nigerians,” he said.

Mrs Florence Okafor, a civil servant said the Federal Government should adjust its current economic policies to reflect the current realities facing Nigerians.

According to her, if the policies are not working, let them adjust them.

“Nigerians are suffering, food prices are on the increase every day, fuel is now selling for over N1,000. A bag of rice is now selling for N120,000. How can we continue like this?

“ It is not every advice we need to take from these international organisations. Let the government do what is right for Nigerians and look into the policies because they are not working,” she said.

Mrs Lelo Okaro, a retiree, said the present economic policies were not sustainable, adding that the Federal Government should formulate policies and reforms that suit Nigeria’s peculiar circumstances.

“We need to formulate policies that work for our system in Nigeria because we have seen that what works for other countries does not work for us in Nigeria.

“Does the World Bank want Nigerians to continue to die? The government says it is sharing palliatives, but as a Federal Government retiree, I have never received any palliative, and it is not just me.

“Honestly, sharing palliative is not a solution to the hunger and challenges Nigerians are facing.

“The government removed fuel subsidy and did not provide decent subsidised or free transportation for citizens. These are some things you see governments of other countries do for their citizens.

“You must put things in place first to cushion the effects these policies will have on citizens.

“As a retiree, I need nothing less than N100,000 a month just for electricity bills, and I still have to switch off some heavy appliances because I was put on Band A by force.

“How much do I get at the end of the month as a retiree? The government is not empathising with the people.

“We must work out our salvation like the Bible says, not what the World Bank is saying or what Kenya or Britain is doing because we have our peculiar challenges,” she said.

Supreme News recalls that Bala Mohammed, the Governor of Bauchi State said recently that the policies were causing untold hardship, especially at the sub-national level.

“I want to say with humility that there is a lot of pain beyond the sub-nationals. There is hunger, and the policies on agriculture, for instance, are not yielding the required fruits.

“We need to review some of these policies. At the sub-national level, we would continue to support the Federal Government, but these policies need to be friendly,” he said.

Prof. Uche Uwaleke, Head of the Banking and Finance Department at Nasarawa State University, said that the World Bank and IMF’s recommendations for Nigeria to further tighten its monetary policy would be suicidal.

According to him, it would be suicidal to have the interest rate go beyond the current elevated inflation rate.

Uwaleke, however, said that some of their recommendations were good, such as cutting the cost of governance, infrastructure, and access to electricity, but there were other recommendations the government should not accept.

“I think in making these recommendations, the IMF and World Bank should know that in Nigeria, we have peculiar situations, and it is not one size fits all.

“These recommendations should suit our environment and circumstances.

“For example, in one breath, they say further tighten the monetary policy and in another breath, you are making recommendations about the ease of doing business and supporting households and businesses with credit.

“Does that not sound contradictory? How can they have access to credit in a country where the interest rate is high?”

Uwaleke said that in making their recommendations and forecasts, the IMF and World Bank should go beyond consultations with the CBN to include the private sector, academia, and the National Assembly, among others to make it inclusive.

Mr Sunday Peter, an Economist and Agro Consultant, said the Federal Government needed to revisit its economic policies, especially on fuel subsidy, because of the hardship it was causing to Nigerians, especially with food inflation.

“If the government wants to have a serious impact on the reduction in the prices of commodities, the government need to reduce fuel prices and they are aware which policy will achieve this.”

Peter advised that the government open the market to enable more people to have a licence to import fuel, adding that the refineries should be fixed.

According to him, the government should increase investmebt in the real sector, that is, the production/manufacturing sector, for a meaningful impact on the economy.

“Only a few people benefit from the oil sector, but production can create a lot of jobs and opportunities.

“The oil sector can only cater for 20 per cent of the population while the real sector can cater for 80 per cent, ” he said.