2nd August, 2023
By Ibukun Emiola
A former Vice-Chancellor of the University of Ibadan, Prof. Idowu Olayinka, and two other experts on Wednesday in Ibadan urged Nigerians to be optimistic about a period of abundance.
They told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in separate interviews that, with President Bola Tinubu rolling out a number of interventions to ameliorate the present economic hardship, there is hope in sight.
Olayinka said Monday’s broadcast by the President laid down the government’s policies in line with realities.
He noted that this was what the present realities have brought upon Nigerians, with all the major political parties agreeing on subsidy removal while campaigning ahead of the Feb. 25 elections.
“There are pains because of the removal of subsidy, but the President has said there will be an increase in the minimum wage in both the public and the private sectors.
“And once the Federal Government has set the benchmark, others will take a cue with the increase in the minimum wage and consequential adjustment.
”It is a fact that workers in both the public and private sectors spend so much of their income on transportation and food,” Olayinka said.
He also said the situation would improve once the ministers are in place in the ministries.
“Things will take proper shape and the general public can be optimistic that there will be an abundance.”
Also, Prof. Akinade Olatunji, President of the Nigerian Mining and Geoscience Society (NMGS), while reviewing the President’s speech commended him on steps taken so far on the current economic challenges.
“It showed that the President is abreast of what is going on in the country and that he and his team are conscious of the expectations of Nigerians.
“For me, it was a good speech and directed to Nigerians. He should do this often to engender trust and confidence in his leadership.
“Nigerians love to hear directly from their leaders. He is the elected President, and Nigerians who hired him for the job require of him to reach them often on all developments in the country, not through media aides alone,” Olatunji said.
An education evaluation expert, Prof. Adams Onuka, also told NAN that President Tinubu’s address was full of plans of all shapes, with some being pleasant and some not as expected.
“However, no matter how good they are, if not expeditiously implemented, they will be overtaken by events and they will become exercises in futility.
“I know that the impact of the subsidy on transportation is being severely felt by the masses and somehow every person.
“The removal has rendered salaries and wages meaningless because if people are to honestly carry out their duties and businesses, the bulk of their earnings will be spent on transportation and the masses will hardly be able to feed themselves.
“So, as good as the removal of subsidy and difference in forex are, they are biting the majority of the populace much harder than those who were hitherto reaping the fruits of subsidy and dual exchange rates,” Onuka said.
He noted that the positive impact would be felt if the mitigative measures had been simultaneously announced with the subsidy removal.
“Announcing the intended mitigative measures two months after the removal, for me, leaves something to be desired and that must be looked into urgently.
“I support the removal of subsidy not because I am sure or not sure of its existence, but because the issue of fuel subsidy has been recurring since the beginning of this democracy, which for me lends some credence to it.
“In that belief, its removal is welcome. But it must have been with immediate and commensurate mitigative measures by both the state and federal governments,” the don said.
Onuka however stated that, for the proposals by the President to be effective, they must immediately become actions and not mere proposals that would later become mere promises.
He said the state governments should also immediately tell their citizens of the action plans put in place as mitigative measures.