By
Rahman Owokoniran
It is about time that Tinubu’s administration looked beyond its reach and began to think outside the box. So far, this government has laid on its back churning out policies at its convenience without any deep reflection on impacts on the country. It had been a radical step towards reform of the country’s financial services. It had been about fund raising and spending for this government.
What about the people who are struggling and the hard working people whose money is being devalued constantly? Where lies the hope of the middle class and the poor people who had been the bedrock of our economy for decades? The removal of subsidy by the government notwithstanding, tariff on utilities was raised by over 100%, prices of fuel and food continue to rise astronomically with no indication that it will be stable anytime soon.
Yet the same government that has not stopped borrowing to service the cost of its expanded government is thinking of cutting back spending on public education.
This is not to mention here all the unholy expenditures of several billions of dollars that are being spent by this government without recourse to the people.
No way, Mr. President, you will be crossing the red line by selling the Federal educational institutions. If there are challenges in this sector, let the public know the report and the reporters. We are tired of you and your advisers’ antics to impose unnecessary suffering on our nation.
I hope you still have friends outside your government that you talk to about the suffering in the land because right now you are rated worse than General Sani Abacha in terms of inhumane treatment and cruelty to the people. The people are at sea understanding that you have no clue about the real issue talk less of providing a solution. So like our roadside mechanics you have been engaging the crisis in a trial-by-error model. Thus, we are on a journey to no particular destination.
The idea of selling those institutions cannot be in the interest of the people or the nation for the following reasons:
1) They are the only leverage to benefit poor people’s access to equal opportunity.
2) They are also the most common use of the nation’s assets to support the poor to get out of poverty.
3) Deprivation of certain people of their natural God-given talent is taking away their liberty and freedom.
4) Cutting off the people whose only avenue to escape poverty is not only callous but also cruel and degrading: it is extreme capitalism and therefore unacceptable.
5) Educating the best amongst us irrespective of their backgrounds in society is not only an essential aspect but also an integral component of our socioeconomic development.
6) Cutting out this important element of our coexistence as a people can only further impoverish us as a nation.
7) Most countries are reaping enormous profits from their economic growth as a result of educational investments over time.
Mr. President, perhaps you should take a deep breath to reflect on your journey from the start of this administration and prospect for the future.
Where have you found yourself today and how did your administration impact this nation ? You may find yourself in a different place than you planned. It is not too late to redirect your thoughts and have a change of plan about the situation.
Firstly, I will recommend that you consider some changes in your cabinets. Some departments are yearning for professional repair work.
Secondly, you need to make compact the cabinets to a manageable size.
You can only have limited capacity to have oversights over so much as a human being. Otherwise, your proxies will continue to fail to deliver on your dreams and promises to the people.
Thirdly, you can fix this problem only if you have the courage, determination and the will to do the work. This cannot be business as usual for the trepidation that this nation has experienced in the last decade.
Mr. President has to be very objective in his decision to change the course of policy.
So far very bad and very dangerous policies have been fired at the populace. No heart, no dignity, no tactics and no direction have been at play, just fire fighting and fireworks.
Your team has to think outside the box to proffer solutions to the economic problems facing our nation. You cannot continue to ignore our cultural and social differences in the way you apply the concept that is foreign to us.
All our past leaders have disappointed us in the way they embraced Western propaganda and their way of life at a very expensive cost.
They were lured into believing that they were not alone in their quest for power. They threw in their way all kinds of baits to lure our leaders into accepting loans and aids to help them. At the end of the day, these baits were booby traps that forced the African nations into economic slavery. Inadvertently, we might have attained our National independence earlier on but not our economic independence.
Initially education was a hindrance but 30-40 years after Independence, it was no longer our lack of knowledge but rather the greed of those leaders who succeeded the imperialists.
Here we are, having inherited what was left of our nation since 1999, why are we still at sea? We cannot look into the horizon for answers to our economic crisis. Just take a ride around town and enjoy your sightseeing.
Help is what we are desirous of and you Mr. President can still be the help we need. Realign your priorities and focus your energy on two or three programmes.
Proactive policies in the short term should be on the following:
1) Security of life and property
2) Agriculture and food production
3) Public mass transportation to cushion the effects of high fuel costs and shortages.
RAHMAN OWOKONIRAN WRITES FROM LAGOS
