Popular columnist and University don, Prof. Farooq Kperogi has x-rayed the economic policies and reforms introduced by President Bola Tinubu since taking over the mantle of leadership 21 months ago, warning that disaster looms in the country’s economy except there is a holistic rethink of government policies.
To Kperogi, it is increasingly becoming evident that nearly all the economic measures devolving from petroleum subsidy removal, devaluation of the Naira and the dole out of palliatives running into several billions of naira are merely trial and error policies which might worsen the economy anytime soon.
He said owing to the reforms, rather than yielding positive returns, these policies stemming from the dictates of the International Monetary Fund(IMF) and World Bank, are making Nigerians to continually writhe in pains and are making the populace to die in installments.
Prof Kperogi spoke while featuring as a discussant, alongside transparency advocate, Mr Seun Onigbinde, on the popular monthly interview discourse, Boiling Point Arena, hosted by a media professional and public relations strategist, Dr Ayo Arowojolu.
The current affairs programme which is the 28th episode via Zoom was broadcast live by three radio stations, WASH 94.9FM, Lagos, Sweet 107.1FM and Roots 97.1FM, Abeokuta.
Both Kperogi and Onigbinde spoke on the topic: “Nigeria’s Economic Crises: Hardship Biting Harder Despite Government Palliatives and Measures, When will Nigerians Begin to Breathe?”
Said Kperogi: “Based on the policies the IMF and World Bank have recommended, the government imposed on Nigerians measures whose goal is not to elevate the status of our people but has completely wiped out the middle class. Our economy may be large, but it does not serve our people. Our people are writhing in pain. People are dying in installment. Why do they accept these policies when they know that they hurt the people?
“Some of these policies are tied to loans. They give you loans, and those loans come with conditionalities. And our leaders are not creative enough to think of independent ways of generating resources to run the country.
“We have a situation where the justification for accepting to remove fuel subsidy, devaluing the currency and increasing tariffs is that we need to generate money to run government and to build infrastructure.
“But, what has happened over the years since this so called total removal of subsidy is that we are still borrowing and yet, no infrastructure being built. There’s no rail transportation, no CNG buses as promised. The only thing that has changed is that our governors have more money in their coffers than they’ve ever had. Yet, the N70,000 minimum wage they struggled to implement can’t even take home the workers.
“The reality now is that Tinubu’s economic agenda is not producing any result and it is time to rethink. We just have a bunch of, rapacious, vultureristic cabal that is intent on not just killing the people, but feeding on their carcasses. And they are enabled in this act by people in positions of power and those having economic power.
Prof. Kperogi also took a swipe at the budgetary processes in the country, saying: “our budget in Nigeria is a legalized scam deployed as institutional theft of our national patrimony.”
“In the Tinubu Era, the situation we have now is that we have elites whose lifestyles and inanities are subsidized by the people and by the government. This is quite unlike in the United States where even the President pays for his own meals from his pocket. If we continue this way in Nigeria, the economy is endangered”, he concluded.
