From Okey Sampson, Umuahia
Chief Emma C. Obi is the immediate past chairman of Aba Industrialists Association (AIA).
In this interview, he reeled out how President Bola Tinubu’s economic policies have turned Nigerians to beggars as people are now begging for food to eat on daily basis.
As a way of proffering solution to the present hardship in the country, he urged the President to do away with what he described as the government’s five crazy economic policies and return to what used to be before he became president. Excerpts:
As an industrialist, how is the present government’s economic policies affecting the sector?
It will not be out of place if I say the sector is worst hit by the present government’s economic policies. Industries are closing down on
daily basis as a result of the harsh economy occasioned by the equally harsh economic policies. Taking it down further, people are suffering greatly in the country as a result of five economic policies introduced by the president. In fact, suffering in the country has now become a culture as both the poor and the rich are not spared the daily routine.
You mentioned wrong economic policies as the cause of the hardship in the country, some people say its as a result of Nigeria running a mono-economy. How do we reconcile this?
Well, I know of some countries especially in the Middle East that are solely dependent on oil as source of revenue like Nigeria and are extremely doing well. Therefore, the economic problem of Nigeria is not due to running a near mono-economy. Rather, the present economic malaise of the country is predicated on wrong application of economic policies by those in power, which have no benefitting objective. Look at these five economic policies introduced by the present administration, hike in electricity tariff, hike in banks’ interest rate, doubling of Customs duties, devaluation of the naira and removal of fuel subsidy. They have crumbled the economy. When you look at all these five indices, you know economically, each and every one of them is an inflationary policy. So, bringing five of them together at the same time, set fire to the entire country.
Some people believe government came up with these policies, especially the devaluation of the naira in adherence to the advice of some world financial institutions. Could this be true?
Currency is the pride of every nation, whoever that advised Tinubu to devalue the naira, did not mean well for the country. Have they themselves devalued the dollar? That advice is a mockery, it is crippling everything in the country. What the government should have done was to look for a way to make the naira to be strong, instead of devaluing it and making the people suffer its ripple effect.
Government has come up with a new minimum wage for workers and in another breath, introduced some palliatives to caution the effect of the hardship on Nigerians. What’s your reaction?
I laugh when I hear or see some of these things. The much tauted minimum wage of N70,000 which government was yet to begin its implementation, has been made nonsense of by inflationary trend in the country. No amount is enough for a salary earner in the country today. Can the minimum wage get a worker a bag of rice? What are we talking about. The suffering is becoming unbearable, people are now begging for food and it has become a culture. You talked about palliatives. What palliative? It is only, but mockery being made by the exposure of the people’s sufferings on TV in the name of providing palliatives. We must be ashamed of certain exposures, how people are gathered, sitting on the floor very hopelessly, waiting for the so-called palliatives. We have to stop covering this mockery type of lives on TVs because the comity of nations are watching us. We have made the world to see Nigeria as a nation in war of food.
Is there nothing that could be done to remedy the situation?
It is unfortunate that the present government which we thought would have done better than the past one, suddenly started rolling out bad policies that have crippled the economy. Having said that, however, the present wrong could be righted in two weeks if the Federal Government so desired. I sincerely appeal to President Tinubu to urgently reverse the five crazy economic policies if he wants to have the support of Nigerians for his government. The president should without delay, return to what used to be before he assumed office, with slight modification any way.