Emmanuel Undie|4 December 2015|7:27pm
In this article, Emmanuel Undie canvasses the opinions of Nigerians to Blomberg's censure of President Muhammadu Buhari's economic policy. This article attempts to demonstrate the fact that Buhari's administration, but Goodluck Jonathan's, is responsible for Nigeria's dwindling economy contrary to Blomberg.
"But does Blomberg have the capacity to assess Nigeria? Let's answer that question first. And back
it with facts. I talk facts, not sentiments. Before we shift the burden of proof elsewhere, let's first of all solve this question. The issue about Buhari is only the second question. And we can tackle it"
Onah Oko: "The same dumb argument that people made more than six months ago. Do you know
what six months is in the life of an administration? What are the steps he has taken and where are the
policies put in place that will turn the economy around the next 6 months or one year@ Adewale
Ayomipo Adetimehin?
I don't think you understand what it means to criticize constructively. Wherever you manufactured
your "ethnic sentiments" idea from, you should advice yourself to drop it. Can you point to any statement in the post that suggests one is
criticizing from ethnic point of view? Are you saying nobody outside the Fulani ethnic group can criticize
Buhari no matter how he stumbles? Pls grow up"
"The Economy was in a downward slope when Buhari took over. Are you aware of that? The Naira
had already slide past N200 per dollar in February.
Are you folks aware of that? Check your records again. GEJ left a debt of N7tr. Are you aware of
that? As at Dec 31, 2009, Obasanjo had $47.7B-not Naira-in our foreign reserves. What do we have there today? Buhari wants to refocus forex to be the control of the Federal government. That's what
every serious country does out there. Even then, the Naira depreciated to about N250 per dollar. That's an addition of slightly less than N50 over what Buhari took over from Jonathan. As we talk, I
got forex last month at N200 to a dollar from govt. Whoever wants to keep doing the back door business and engage in fraud, that's his business. Else, if you want forex, go to govt., follow due process. We have got to do things right. Sorry to
whoever is hurting"
"I should not be here talking. Let's talk like Educated people. Six months ago? A month after taking over? You seem to be a Jonathan Apologist. I voted Jonathan. But I've not a single thing I can use to defend him. Nothing. Give me one! So after taking over, you start from day one to judge people in governance. You folks are from CRS. What do you
say about the government down here at home?" "Talk facts….tell me why you feel they have any
information about Nigeria enough to be the judge! Burden of proof lies with you who is defending them. Give me one index that they measured that you feel is right! Read their report again. Do you base a whole country's assessment on the stock market? What happened to the GDP? You base it on fining a lawless company like MTN? That's what my party, PDP ever wanted! To keep the country at a perpetually lawless state so that its associates
can continue to milk the country endlessly. After nemesis has caught up with them, they are now
crying fowl…my brother…leave that thing. But feel free to give me facts let's discuss this matter to the
end"
"@Missang Oyama…I would like you to dwell on this matter for the next few posts again, let's sort it out. You said it rightly thus: "…Yes, TSA would curb the incidences of corruption but it will also truncate
economic growth…" How? Do you agree with me that in the last administration, they liquidated our
foreign reserves? Obasanjo left behind $47.7b in foreign reserves. Jonathan finished it. And you
agree with me that most of our imports and foreign transactions and therefore the dollar/Naira
exchange relativity depends largely on this liquidated foreign reserves. That's one.
Secondly, I find Buhari's economic track very clear. You do not
build any serious economic policy to address both the Macro and Micro economic fabrics of the
country on falsehood. Are you aware that Jonathan had started borrowing money to shove off the
deteriorating economy prior to when he was leaving office? Jonathan left Nigeria with N7tr debt by May
29 2015. As an economist, what that tells you is that the economy was being sustained by afloat only by a mirage of false pillars called debts. We were not transacting with the real Naira. That gave a false
sense of a sustained system but only Jonathan and his madam Okonjo knew this.
Thirdly, GEJ had no control of what was going on in the economy.
Remember Soludo estimated the Nigerian economy to be a N100tr economy but our 2014 budget has
been about N4.9tr. What happened to the rest of the money the economy generated? A nation's capital market is not a mirror of the nation's economy. You agree with me that professionally the stock market is not a reliable index on which to base the nation's
economic activity. It is rather based on inflation, GDP growth rate also known as income, stability of
prices (inflation and exchange rate), the poverty rate and unemployment rate.
These are not the issues
Blomberg measured. If you can get the statistics, do so let us base our discussion on those facts.
Until then, you have no real figures with which to do a good assessment in six months. On the other hand, what I know has happened is that all those who used to do business under the table or through the back door have been blocked and so they are whining and complaining. Another thing I know is that the TSA is meeting with a hell of hesitation and frustration. Those involved are not doing what they should do because they want to frustrate the policy. We need to wish the President well and let him not give up. I would dare say he is trying because with the austere policies he has introduced to stabilize the
economy, only a little negative impact is felt so far. And we are at about the end of the slope. And we
have enough leverage on the revenues from Crude sales to make a good impact. Lets keep our fingers
crossed and pray that the turbulence doesn't last much longer. That's all".
Emmanuel Undie
Is a Social Commentator & Public Affairs Analyst
