THE SHORTCOMINGS OF PRESIDENT TINUBU’S ECONOMIC POLICIES – FAILURE TO ADDRESS THE CORE ISSUES THAT ARE COMPOUNDING THE WOES OF ORDINARY NIGERIANS

When reforms and growth are widening the gap between the haves and the have-nots, you want to ask critical questions. 

I have a family member, a graduate and a veteran teacher for almost two decades, who works for one of Nigeria's State Teaching Services and earns a take-home that is less than N180k (< $138) a month, with a family of four... His wife, who is also a graduate, is an administrative assistant at a higher institution in Nigeria - she earns about the same amount... They can barely survive on their meager salaries without external support. This family member has two side gigs, and the income is still not enough... Things have been getting worse for most middle-class families in Nigeria in the last 10 years. It got worse since President Tinubu's ascension because of hyper-inflation and stagnation of salaries – this is the consequence of Tinubu's policies... This person and his family are better off than 80% of Nigerians, yet they can hardly make ends meet... Somebody needs to tell Mr. President that Nigerians are suffering and they are worse off than when he came to the office, and he has not shown them the strategy he would employ to relieve them of this heavy burden… It is almost like 1983 or 1995 again…

The stock market is doing well… If you have the means, you could quadruple your investment in one year by investing in the right stock in the NGX. NGX indices are NOT the yardstick for a growing economy... the empowerment of ordinary Nigerians to live and thrive is... An economy that is not driving manufacturing that creates jobs that lead to competitive wages for Nigerians is only meant to benefit the rich... 95% of Nigerians cannot afford to invest in the stock market... they cannot, so the gains being seen in the stock market are only for 1% of 1%.... Ordinary Nigerians are not benefiting from this macroeconomic boom you described here... They are not... Many's lot and worth had diminished... all the gains from the OBJ era are gone and lost because of 8 years of waste and cluelessness under Buhari, and the skewed economic policies under Tinubu... Civil Servants, who constitute the better part of the middle class (you will agree they drive the economy), have had their purchasing power diminished by as much as 80% in the last 10 years; 60% of that came during Tinubu's regime in the last 3 years...

How many Nigerians can afford to invest in the STOCK MARKET, HOW MANY? When they are living from hand to mouth...is that when they will think of investing in one company that will bring them 400% return in one year or five? I disagree that a government cannot pursue both microeconomic and macroeconomic policies at the same time. Tinubu’s macroeconomic reform is creating a boom for rich Nigerians, while ordinary Nigerians, who are always the ones taking the shock, continue to suffer. Tinubu’s policies should include heavy taxation of the rich, curbing corruption that leaks government purse, massive social net for suffering Nigerians, loan to small scale business owners, policies that drive local manufacturing (ban importation of certain goods while you negotiate with the foreign companies to bring their manufacturing home here), revamping our energy sector to drive industrialization – I think the coastal highway is a mismatch for an economy that needs a breathe of life in manufacturing – why not spend all that money to revive AJAOKUTA, improve power generation, push local petroleum refining, etc… These are what will improve microeconomic indices. These can be combined with all the Central Bank policies and others that are creating excitement in the stock market… Not to forget intentionally tackling insecurity... not the one that is forced by Trump… insecurity alone will drive poverty out from the standpoint of things like tourism and foreign investment in manufacturing…The Nigerian brand is at the highest point since independence because of our entertainment industry and Nigerians in the diaspora doing wonders for our image...

Tinubu's economic policies are NOT lifting Nigerians out of poverty as we have seen in countries like China and India...