A week ago President Buhari held a one-day summit with his cabinet on
\nthe economic recession and on the following day, Mr. Udo Udoma, SAN,
\nthe Honourable Minister of Economic Planning was on Channels
\nTelevision to meet the press on the outcome of the economic
\ndiscussions.
\nTwo things stand out about the presidential parley and the ensuing
\npress interview; that Mr. Udoma is now de facto Minister of the
\nEconomy, the Finance Minister having taken a back seat and the
\nofficial government line is that the militancy in the Niger delta is
\nto blame for the economic recession.
\nThe Americans have a curious phrase for a minister who wields the most
\ninfluence in a presidential system, they call it \u2018the guy who gets the
\nmost facetime\u2019 because he\/she gets to spend more time with the
\nPresident and then more time with the press. In the recent weeks, Mr.
\nUdoma\u2019s statute has grown as Mrs Adeosun\u2019s shadow has receded. The
\nlatter\u2019s grasp of economics was always in doubt, but the former\u2019s
\neconomics is now in doubt, even as his stature grows and grows. This
\nview of face time is supported by the Federal Executive Council photo
\nshoots which often place Udoma at the President\u2019s elbow.
\nMr. Udoma, a very smart lawyer and picture of the most debonair
\nsuavity is scion of a path breaking legal icon and former Supreme
\nCourt Justice. He was for a while PDP Senator and is now an APC
\ntier-one Federal Minister. In his interview he insisted the Niger
\ndelta militancy is the cause of the present economic recession.
\nAccording to Mr. Udoma oil production fell from 2.2 million barrels
\nper day to 1.1 million barrels and thereby deprived Government of the
\ncapacity to fund the budget. According to the respected lawyer, the
\nGovernment has been unable to fund capital budget by more than 20%
\nalthough recurrent expenditure has been fully funded. His views, as
\nthe official government position, has in the last few days being
\nreinforced by the cerebral Vice President, Prof Osinbajo.
\nIn choosing this official position of Government, these two brilliant
\nlawyers have chosen to range themselves against two formidable past
\nGovernors of the Central Bank of Nigeria and a smattering of
\neconomists who argue that it is policy mismatch rather than loss of
\nearning from the commodity market that is responsible for what the
\nPresident has described forebodingly as \u201ceconomic doldrums.\u201d
\nTwo weeks before all these, the Emir of Kano, former Governor CBN and
\nfervent APC supporter had gone to town with his disagreement with the
\nofficial government line that oil production cut was solely
\nresponsible for the recession. His argument was that a component of
\nthe economy that contributesa mere 15% of the economy even if reduced
\nto zero cannot force the entire economy into recession.
\nThe government\u2019s position that it is the militancy that is responsible
\nfor the recession seems self-defeating, but it warrants further
\nexamination. First, assuming this is right; it would mean that the
\nrecession is political and not economic in origin. In which case,
\ngovernment being an association of politiciansis eminently suited to
\nsolving the problem without resort to \u2018outside help\u2019 from the
\neconomists. Now, what political \u2018measures\u2019 have the government taken
\nto resolve the problems? For months while the militancy raged in the
\ndelta, government paid lip service to a political solution to the
\nproblems and demands of the region, and while the militancy seemed to
\nhave subsided, mobilised a military force of occupation into the
\nregion. Never mind that the armada mobilised was asymmetrical to the
\nterrain. Of what use are tanks patrolling the streets of Warri and
\nPort Harcourt, when the \u2018war\u2019 the government proposes to fight is in
\nthe creeks, which are totally inaccessible to such crafts? At best it
\nserves propaganda purposes, at worst it is aimed at terrorising the
\ncivil populace. Is that a political or a military solution?
\nIn contrast, sometime in May, at the height of the militancy Dr.
\nKachikwu the minister of state for petroleum (who seemed to have had
\nmore facetime at the time) offered the makings of a political solution
\nwhen in a town hall meeting in Uyo, he proposed to fund the Maritime
\nUniversity at Okerenkoko if the responsible minister for transport,
\nwas, well, not going to be responsible. For it.
\nTwo weeks later or so he was taken off as the GMD of NNPC, some say as
\npunishment for his overzealousness, and all talk of a political
\nsolution fizzled out. Instead we had the military exercises, wherein
\ncrocodiles were supposed to smile! For the cameras, perhaps? Neither
\nthe nation nor the region could force a smile since so we are left
\nwondering what was the purpose of entire crocodilesmile exercise!
\nSo assuming, without conceding, as lawyers often put it, that the
\nentire cause of the recession is political, what has this government
\ndone to address the concerns in the Niger delta, which are at the
\nroots of the recession according to government theology?Nothing? It
\nsimply means the government is not convinced of its own prognosis, or
\nit is derelict in its perceived obligation. Either way it has not
\nacted responsibly. Unresponsive government is often irresponsible,
\ntoo.
\nTake Brexit for example, an economic problem with a political cause in
\nthe UK. The British public, like the people of the Niger Delta region,
\nbelieve rightly or wrongly, that have been short changed in a transfer
\nunion in which they have consistently given more than they have
\nreceived. Their vote to opt out presented a political problem. Prime
\nMinister Cameron falls on his sword, and Mrs May emerges new Prime
\nMinister. She hits the ground running. A new cabinet with defined
\nresponsibilities within 24 hours is formed and engagement with the
\nrest of Europe is sustained ever since. Why? Because the UK economy is
\nbuilt on services, particularly financial services since the Big Bang
\nin 1986. London\u2019s place as the preeminent transatlantic financial
\nservices hub depends on it. Every day that passes and London\u2019s status
\nin the European firmament is not resolved is a day closer to the ruin
\nof British enterprise and Mrs. May knows it!
\nIn contrast nobody seems to know what to do about the Niger delta,
\nexcept parade crocodile smiles. The paralysis over the Niger delta
\nmirrors the paralysis of this government on every issue. A paralysis
\nbrought about by motive conflicts. Take the Niger delta issue as
\nreference point again. First, Mr. Amaechi boldly claimed the nation
\nhad no need for a Maritime University \u2013 in a world where three
\nquarters of the planet is covered by water and Nigeria boasts the
\nlongest coastline in West Africa! Then he said it was a bare piece of
\nground and Nigeria would rather have her money back that pay half the
\nprice of Lagos for a swamp in the middle of nowhere. Then Dr. Kachikwu
\nseemed to reverse that trend at a town-hall in Uyo, only for that
\nchange to change again, and we are presented with crocodile smiles.
\nEven the hoary Nobel laureate has had to re-echo the frustrations of
\nthe region, to no avail.
\nQuestion: if really the militancy in the Niger delta is the cause of
\nthe recession, barring fall in commodity prices, absence of trade and
\nindustrial policy, policy somersaults and the like, what has this
\nadministration done to engage and manage the issues politically?
\nBecause, if militancy in the Niger delta is the cause of Nigeria\u2019s
\nrecession, and operation Crocodile Smile is the way to go, I don\u2019t
\nthink the CBN Governor Mr. Emefiele would be the right person to tell
\nus the end of the recession is in sight. We should be hanging on every
\nlast word of General Burutai and the last time I checked, he had
\nnothing to say about the end of the recession. Hello midnight!
\nEmmanuel Jakpa, a Legal Practitioner, lives in Warri, Delta state.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A week ago President Buhari held a one-day summit with his cabinet on the economic recession and on the following day, Mr. Udo Udoma, SAN, the Honourable Minister of Economic…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":53387,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-53386","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-articles-opinions"],"yoast_head":"\n