FORMER United States president, Ronald Reagan, and former British prime minister, Margaret Thatcher, powerful proponents of the neoliberal doctrine, had their economic praxes named after them: Reaganomics and Thatcherism. These were practical expressions of an economic and political doctrine: neoliberalism, which conflated extreme concentration of wealth in a few hands, and extreme mass poverty at global and national levels.
Unlike them, president Tinubu is more comfortable with cronyism than merit. Rather than appoint an economist who knows his onions to head Nigeria’s Central Bank, like former President Olusegun Obasanjo, who fished out Prof Soludo, to rescue the battered economy he inherited, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu appointed his crony as the Governor of the Central Bank. His experience as a commissioner in Lagos State isn’t enough background for Central Bank’s governorship. Tinubu also appointed another crony to head the nation’s biggest revenue collection agency, who was reported to have spent billions of Naira on the purchase of bullet proof SUVs, and proceeded on a tour abroad with about 15 escorts which cost the nation substantial amounts.
If someone borrows a leaf from Reaganomics and Thatcherism, Tinubunomics would be the economic template of Nigeria’s APC led government. But unlike Reaganomics and Thatcherism, which were grounded in neoliberalism, Tinubunomics is a jumble of economic praxes which are partly neoliberal, partly cronyistic, and self-centred, and therefore can hardly be articulated into a precise economic category that owes its origin to another weird economic praxis, Buharinomics, which was more imprecise than Tinubunomics, that has left the economy on an elusive, self-corrected trajectory when the government’s economic team embarked on a slumber that has sent the economy amok.
ALSO READ:
Arise O Compatriots, Nigeria, We Hail Thee; By Owei Lakemfa
The problem of any economic template ungrounded in a clearly defined economic outlook, such as neoliberalism, welfarism, socialism, is that it would be reduced to the personal economic dictates of its governing elites.
The neoliberal doctrine, which facilitated Reaganomics and Thatcherism, arose due to the failure of Keynesian economics to contain the stagflation and high unemployment of the ’70s, which was generally intended to make the rich ultra-rich, and make the poor poorer. This obliterated the welfare state, with preferences for lean governments which receded from the economy; maximal opportunities for the corporate sector (tax exemptions, lower taxes, depressed wage rates which enhanced profits, massive bailouts during recessions, etc,), and compounded misery for other peoples.
As highlighted earlier, Tinubunomics hasn’t been holistically inspired by neoliberalism, it only picks from the doctrine what fits into the designs of its operating elites, and discards those which undermine their interests, which found distortions and inefficiencies in the administration of subsidies, which were objectionable to the government, which informed its attack on the welfare state, which led to the withdrawal of fuel subsidies over one year ago, a bitter pill to the Nigerian people, which has made them poorer.
ALSO READ:
Nigeria’s Refusal To Power Development; By Jibrin Ibrahim
However, Tinubunomics has conveniently discarded the neoliberal preference for a lean government and opted for an expansive government, to cater for political associates, and proxies unconcerned with the impact of a big government on the comatose economy.
The self-contradicting nature of Tinubunomics is underscored by the composition of its economic management team which is made up of some ministers, chairman of the Nigerian Governors Forum, the Senate President, members of the organised private sector, etc. The question then is: how can some of those who are alleged to bleed the economy be responsible for resuscitating it? The petroleum sector is so opaque that its national petroleum corporation is said to be among the most non-transparent oil corporations in the world, then how can a representative of the oil sector play a meaningful role to rejig the Nigerian economy?
And it hasn’t allowed the market to correct its distortions, and reward a critical factor input accordingly. Wages are out of sync with the cost of living, and it seems the negative impact of an uncontrollable galloping inflation on the sustainability of small and medium scale enterprises hasn’t been appreciated. It should be in the enlightened self-interest of the regime to enliven small and medium scale enterprises, not to destroy them through ineffective economic policies.
Reaganomics and Thatcherism didn’t sacrifice meritocracy for cronyism; had seasoned Central bankers (Paul Adolph Volcker Jnr and Robin Leigh Pemberton) who steered their economies out of the turbulences of the ’70s. It was the Volcker shocks which were used to navigate the American economy out of its turbulence in the ’80s, whilst despite disagreements between Margaret Thatcher and Mr Pemberton, he was allowed to tinker with the British economy as he professionally desired.
ALSO READ:
Infidelity: Who Is To Blame? By Godwin A. Abeghe
Unlike them, president Tinubu is more comfortable with cronyism than merit. Rather than appoint an economist who knows his onions to head Nigeria’s Central Bank, like former President Olusegun Obasanjo, who fished out Prof Soludo, to rescue the battered economy he inherited, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu appointed his crony as the Governor of the Central Bank. His experience as a commissioner in Lagos State isn’t enough background for Central Bank’s governorship. Tinubu also appointed another crony to head the nation’s biggest revenue collection agency, who was reported to have spent billions of Naira on the purchase of bullet proof SUVs, and proceeded on a tour abroad with about 15 escorts which cost the nation substantial amounts.
Tinubunomics is a disjointed economic template of the APC-led government in Nigeria, which is partly neoliberal, and partly cronyistic. Its neoliberal tenets are bitter pills which make Nigerians poorer, whilst its croynistic tenets are supplements which revitalise the ruling elites for a robust engagement with Nigeria’s comatose economy. Its bitter pills have manufactured an economist out of every Nigerian household, which has substantially demystified the dismal science.
Nigerians eagerly await the investigative report of a minister who was alleged to have diverted substantial public funds to private accounts. And the government hasn’t come clean on the award of contract for the Calabar Lagos Coastal highway, and the project gazelle. Tinubunomics seems unconcerned with the impact of opaque procedures and policies on the economy and Nigerians.
Buharinomics, and its successor, Tinubunomics, have substantially demystified economics through the siddon look trajectory of the former, and the selective applications of the neoliberal template, and cronyism of the latter. These trajectories have transformed almost all Nigerians into rudimentary economists, who almost every hour of their lives, contend with the basic issues of survival, from food, transportation, housing, medications, schooling, etc, which are economic in nature. Ordinary Nigerians have begun to discuss the impact of politics on the economy; the nexus between prebendalism, cronyism and appointments into key economic institutions; the inequitable and discriminatory sacrifices made by classes of Nigerians to refocus the economy; the need for transparency in government business; the growth of public debts, etc.
The self-contradicting nature of Tinubunomics is underscored by the composition of its economic management team which is made up of some ministers, chairman of the Nigerian Governors Forum, the Senate President, members of the organised private sector, etc. The question then is: how can some of those who are alleged to bleed the economy be responsible for resuscitating it? The petroleum sector is so opaque that its national petroleum corporation is said to be among the most non-transparent oil corporations in the world, then how can a representative of the oil sector play a meaningful role to rejig the Nigerian economy?
Tinubunomics is a disjointed economic template of the APC-led government in Nigeria, which is partly neoliberal, and partly cronyistic. Its neoliberal tenets are bitter pills which make Nigerians poorer, whilst its croynistic tenets are supplements which revitalise the ruling elites for a robust engagement with Nigeria’s comatose economy. Its bitter pills have manufactured an economist out of every Nigerian household, which has substantially demystified the dismal science.
The Nigerian economy shouldn’t be driven along a clannish trajectory, as Tinubunomics is doing, which makes it ominous. This could drive the economy into a permanent coma, which could worsen unemployment, and heighten the insecurity bedevilling the nation.
Jahun, a commentator on public affairs, writes from Dutse, Jigawa State capital. This column will henceforth appear every Wednesday under the title: ‘The Other Perspective’. He can be reached via email @: aminuhabibu58@gmail.com or WhatsApp: +234 703 903 8088.
