Buhari, a President without economic think tank

The President is yet to appoint his Chief Economic adviser,
have an economic management team or a think tank that
meets regularly to discuss what is on ground, what
measures needed to be put in place to address them
quickly. It is like the focus is all about looking for thieves,
catching them, and recovering what they have stolen. This
is good and fair enough. After the President has finished the
recovery of the looted funds, what next and how will the
looted funds be channeled into the economy to benefit the
ordinary Nigerian?
What the ordinary Nigerian is interested in is food on his
table, good school for his children, good medical care and
shelter and security of life and property.
In any economy, the goal of macro economic policy is to
achieve full employment of resources, balance growth,
stable prices of goods and services; and a stable currency
through a healthy balance of payment.
As it is today, all four macro economic indices are pointing
south. This government seems not to understand or know
what to do to address the situation. The government does
not need to go too far to know what to do. Nigeria has
several development research documents that speak of
ways to better manage the economy. But the problem has
always been that leaders are often not focused enough to
implement them faithfully.
In most countries today, the economics of the middle class
has taken the center stage. This is because if the middle
class is doing well, the purchasing power in the hand of this
class will make the economy to grow. When in 1986,
General Babangida introduced the famous Structural
Adjustment Programme (SAP) , it was with good intention. But
half way down the line of implementation, the programme
was derailed by Nigerians who kept crying of the hardship
the programme was putting the nation through.
President Babagida before coming up with SAP had a
retinue of very bright minds as his advisers. Babagida had a
team then that was called the Presidential Economic
Advisory Council. This body was busy preparing documents
and seeking informed opinion from operators in the private
sector. He went to the point of instituting what was then
known as Corporate Nigeria — a yearly gathering of
captains of industry to tap their knowledge of the economy
before any policy initiative.
When President Olusegun Obasanjo became the President,
the economy was near its knees. He realised that he could
not manage the economy all by himself. He appointed
Professor Chukwuma Soludo as his Chief Economic Adviser
and set up an economic management team. The team went
to work and prepared a document called the NEEDS . It was
the second of its kind to SAP. The document was the basis
on which the nation was able to secure a debt relief from
the Paris and London clubs of creditors. In fact it became
the Policy Support Instrument for which the International
Monetary Fund IMF, based its monitoring and evaluation of
the economy on.
Nigerians' expectation was that the next government after
Obasanjo would take the economy to the next level.
President Umaru Yar ‘Adua came up with 7-Point Agenda
and Jonathan the Transformation Agenda. They were mere
slogans without content or direction. President Umaru
Yar’Adua followed with the appointment of Tanimu as his
Economic Adviser. He again had his economic team. All his
appointees followed the seven point agenda.
The immediate past President had his team and his
economic slogan was Transformation .
Buhari and his team must realise that they do not yet have a
coherent, credible agenda that is consistent with the
fundamentals of the economy as it stands today. What the
government has been saying contains some good principles
and wish-lists, but as a blue print for Nigeria’s security and
prosperity, it is largely ineffective. The President should for
the sake of Nigerians who voted him to power present a
credible development agenda to Nigerians.
What the President must know is that the fundamental
challenge of his government on the economy is how to set
economic objective of creating ten to twelve million jobs
over the next four years to have a dent on the ever growing
unemployment and poverty in the country. The real
challenge is to craft a development agenda to deliver
dividends of democracy within the context of broken public
finance, and an economy in which painful structural
adjustments will be inevitable if current trends in oil prices
continue. Mr. President must come to terms with the fact
that programmes such as war on corruption, security,
power, infrastructure, etc, are  instruments to achieving the
macro economic objective of full employment.
As it appears, this government seems to be disoriented and
unorganised in the economic front. What is the economic
slogan of this administration? What is the economic
direction of government ministries, departments and
agencies? All we hear is war against corruption, I will not
devalue the naira, we will invest in agriculture, and we will
invest in solid minerals.
So far there is no policy direction toward these sectors.
This government campaigned on the basis of stimulating the
economy. Buhari’s stimulus strategy as of now is not
focusing on cherry-picking projects that can create jobs
almost instantaneously, as well as on programs that can
deliver immediate returns to Nigerians.
It is now all out war on corruption. The projects and
programs this administration should get into include
infrastructure, education, health, and energy. It is a shame
that nine months into the life of this administration, these
sectors are yet to feel the presence of this administration.
The budget is riddled with confusion and yet to be passed.
Almost one year is gone with little to show for it on the
economy.
The President has already reneged on his unemployment
benefits he promised during his campaign to pay N5, 000
unemployment benefits to Nigerians and other social
welfare provisions. The informal sector in Nigeria is very
vibrant, with millions of underemployed youths. This ought
to be one sector this government of change should
concentrate on to unleash its potential on the economy.
This sector ultimately will generate employment
opportunities. This government should wake up and face the
task of reconstructing the Nigerian economy; period.