Economists describe Tinubu's pronouncements welcoming

Prof. Ken Ife, a financial expert, has described President Bola Tinubu’s inaugural speech as conciliatory and filled with lots of hope.

Ife said on Monday in Lagos that the president’s speech showed readiness and willingness to end any disagreement that might have arisen from the just-concluded elections that brought him to power.

“I see a lot of hope in the president’s speech. In fact, what I like in his speech is the conciliatory tone, which is very important, and then recognizing that the battle is over, from a political perspective.

“So, it’s now about governance and governing an entity called Nigeria,” he said.

According to him, Tinubu was full of promises about where we were headed, and he showed firm resolve and courage in saying subsidy has ended.

“But more details will come out on what kind of palliatives and directions he is going to take,’’ he added.

Ife also said that the president’s target of six percent gross domestic product growth in the economy was possible, necessary, and realistic, urging him to improve investment in the economy to achieve that.

On the president’s plan to work toward a unified exchange rate, Ife said it was a good objective to work toward.

The economist, however, noted that the unified exchange rate was not something that would be achieved in a hurry because of the price mechanism of demand and supply.

Also analyzing the President’s speech, Dr. Boniface Chizea, also an economist, said that Tinubu’s target of six percent gross domestic product growth for the economy would have good benefits for the economy if he could achieve it.

“Six percent GDP growth is good for the economy if he can achieve it. That is wonderful, and it will improve the quality of life for the people.

“We want the economy to grow more than the rate of our population growth; the rate of our population growth in Nigeria is about 2.41 percent,’’ he said.

On Tinubu’s plan to review complaints about multiple taxation and exchange rate unification, Chizea said, “All these are not new; what we have to concentrate on overall is ease of doing business.

“But multiple taxation is what also affects companies leaving Nigeria for Ghana and other countries because companies don’t want to be taxed here and there. But it’s better for us to subsume that under the ease of doing business.

“And ease of doing business will see us have access to roads, customs, security, the sanctity of contracts, and the legal system, among others.

“It’s a good thing to do, but the thing we must know is that we have challenges with revenue, so we need to find a way to enhance our revenue.

“Our tax revenue to GDP is one of the lowest. So, the government has to find a way to address that—maybe not increase taxes but broaden the tax net to bring in more people,’’ the business development consultant said.