4th September, 2016
Continuity was the slogan in place of the fresh air we breathed between 2011-2015. It was indeed a real fresh air.
Just before the election, we heard from the then Super Minister that the economy was doing fine. The last bit we heard was that we were borrowing to pay salary. Little did we know that contractors all over the nation were owed in trillions of Naira and that most projects that were politically motivated were just a cover up for election score cards.
The entire economy was in shambles, Nigeria was just a body without SOUL. The centre could no longer hold, we were deep into recession!
The opposition party could not pretend they never saw it either but the ultimate goal was to grab power; they have to undertake the rescue mission. Theirs was mission accompli.
A battered nation was near collapsing. The entire world saw it, our economists that were outside the system roared and forecast the doom we are in today but they were ignored because of party affiliations. Now, the truth is open.
Let us analyze the magic wand of the then Super Minister and supposedly economic team of that administration that never saved for anything and the management of today’s reality if they had continued in office.
It is obvious that the oil price would not have gone up but then the avengers would not have arisen but the stealing of oil would have doubled if not tripled. Government revenue from oil would have been worse still because the culture of stealing would have continued.
The remnant of the external reserve which as at today is still at about $28b would have been squandered. Government agencies would not have helped either. TSA would have been ignored, relaxation in tax collection, it would have been all about borrowing.
We would have been dancing with the IMF, with its obnoxious conditions and forced policies.
The Naira would have been in more shambles.
NLC, TUC, oil workers would not have been managed. Demonstrations and strikes would have been the order of the day. Schools would have been on strike. The entire country would have been in a state of comatose.
If we are buying rice today at N16,000 and hoping it will come down, it would have been worse. May be smuggling would have been the only option. We would have been in total doom economically.
The security situation pre-election as we all saw it then would have been a child’s play because the I-don’t-care attitude towards the life of the people of the Northeast was an eyesore and wonders would not have happened.
We would have lost that part of the country to the insurgency (The caliphate) which would have been a gateway to total disintegration of the country for those who never saw anything good in our forced marriage.
Yes, Buhari’s policies are not yet yielding results. Yes, there are policy somersaults and mistakes. Yes, prices of commodities have gone up. Yes, there is recession as you wish to call it but there are plans, policies being put in place to curtail the wastes witnessed in the past and foster a new economic agenda for diversification to promote growth, to boost employment, to put infrastructure in place, provide electricity, to grow food, manufacture products, industrialise the nation, attract foreign investment, revitalise our refinery and build new ones, reduce corruption, if not totally eradicated, retrieve the stolen funds and jail the thieves and give hope and future for the next generation.
All these as I mentioned are all ongoing despite the dwindling revenue and the activities of saboteurs who have vowed to disrupt the plans because they have been displaced and being exposed and tried for mismanagement, stealing and gang-raping of our dear Nation.
Let’s give kudos to this present government for being there for us and pray not to witness the recklessness, excesses, lawlessness, stealing with absolute impunity we witnessed in the past.
God bless Nigeria.
Abdallah Muhammed Sanni
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