I am no economist. Then again, neither are a whole lot of the people who
\nhave written or spoken in recent times on the economic issues prevalent in
\nour nation today. We are, however, stakeholders; after all, it is our
\ncountry. We live here, earn a living here; our children attend schools here
\nand what have you. Even those of us who are not resident in the country
\nhave family members who are, and probably some investment or the other
\nhere. So, we are all stakeholders.<\/p>\n
Since the first alarm was sounded on the falling prices of crude oil, many
\nof us have been following the news ardently, silently hoping for a reprieve
\nof some sort. It has been several weeks since the first news broke, and
\nthough several actions and reactions have taken place since then, the
\nnarrative of the general populace has not changed; we are still in the
\n\u02dcfinger pointing phase. Two points arise from this phase which require
\nthat we take a look at the facts before us critically rather than allow
\nourselves be swept away in the flood of what at first may appear as \u02dcpublic
\nopinion, but now plays as a well-crafted plan to distract and derail the
\ngood people of this dear nation from the things which are true and right.<\/p>\n
Dr (Mrs) Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala is a technocrat, not a politician. She was not
\nappointed as finance minister and Coordinating Minister of the Economy
\nbecause she was owed a political favour, but because the presidency deemed
\nher the right fit for the job. Based on her past service to the country, it
\nis not out of place for me to state that she is not one associated with
\nreckless spending. In fact, it was during her first stint as finance
\nminister that the Excess Crude Account was set up.<\/p>\n
Secondly, while she endorsed saving; other parties, wielding political
\nmight, undermined her efforts. In April 2013, she openly, and on more than
\none occasion told us that the Federal Government was compelled to share
\nover $16.4billion revenue accumulated in the excess crude account to the
\nstates because the governors argued that it was unconstitutional and even
\nillegal for the Nigerian republic to have savings stashed away for some
\nimaginary rainy day. She was also quoted saying that, It was a fight to
\neven get $1billion paid into the SWF (Sovereign Wealth Fund). We managed to
\nsave $20billion the last time, but now the governors are saying it is
\nillegal. So, the country is not able to save, and what is left in the
\nExcess Crude Revenue Account today is only about $3.6billion.<\/p>\n
The truth is, surviving the current decline in oil prices and its negative
\nimpact on national and global economies would have certainly been made
\neasier had we enough funds shored up. Remember, it had been done before
\nduring the 2008\/09 crises. The government was able to augment its budget
\ndeficit and continue with most of its development programmes with revenues
\nfrom a healthy Excess Crude Revenue Account.<\/p>\n
Had Dr Okonjo-Iweala not, in the past, expressed her concerns, reservations
\nand angst about what another economic meltdown without sufficient funds in
\nthe ECA would do to us, then she should naturally be our first target for
\nfinger-pointing. But she did, several times over, she did. Yet we refuse to
\nblame the people who squandered our future and have faced the one woman who
\nbecame an enemy of state governors and legislature in her bid to secure the
\neconomic future of this country.<\/p>\n
The Minister has always been an advocate of the need for the country to
\ncontinue to create safety nets in the form of savings in order to cushion
\nany potential negative effects of the volatility in the international oil
\nmarket on the domestic economy should there be any further depression in
\nthe global economy. Just as she has repeatedly stressed that increased
\nefforts to diversify the countrys economy remains the only viable option
\nopen to pursue in the face of dwindling revenues from crude oil exports as
\nwell as increasing volatility in the global oil market.<\/p>\n
With elections fast approaching and our current situation becoming fertile
\nground for politicking, what is needed now is a collaborative paradigm
\nshift. We need to look beyond the problem to the possible solutions; we
\nneed to shift our focus from blaming the finance minister and her economic
\nteam to focusing on the things that matter. In truth, as stakeholders,
\neveryone has a role to play. Let us not be carried away by the opinions of
\nnaysayers as we look towards a better economy in the years ahead.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
*Issachar Odion is a post graduate student in one of the federal
\nuniversities.*<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
I am no economist. Then again, neither are a whole lot of the people who have written or spoken in recent times on the economic issues prevalent in our nation…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":26553,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-33969","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-articles-opinions"],"yoast_head":"\n