THE IMPACT OF “CHANGE MANTRA ON ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT OF NIGERIA
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
BACKGROUND OF STUDY
It is now a glaring fact that so much is happening in the Nigerian polity, especially in relation to economic policy making agencies. This may be partly owing to the pressure of stakeholders at the local and international levels on finding a lasting solution to the current challenges of the Nigerian economy. Declared to be officially in recession a few weeks ago, Nigeria has witnessed a reactive series of policy statements and approaches from different policy making bodies even to the point of creating policy summersault as manifest in the arguments and counter-arguments of decision makers.
In retrospection, the unpleasant fact that was beginning to manifest in recession had hitherto been predicted by renowned economic experts. These experts had been volunteering intermittent opinions on the staggering economic indices and its effect on market forces from the first quarter of 2016. It was however not until the beginning of the third quarter that this bitter pill had to be swallowed, following the indicators by the National Bureau of Statistics which showed Gross Domestic Product (GDP) data of a negative growth rate of -0.36 per cent and the declaration by the Federal Minister for Finance, as well as the Governor of Central Bank. At present, the situation is still unimpressive, with a GDP contraction of about 2.06 percent, an increase in inflation rate to about 17.6 percent coupled with a fall in Foreign Direct Investment (FDI), and an external reserve that is down by 25 percent. Highlighted reasons for the unimpressive indices include the fall in global oil prices from over $100 to below $40, past mismanagement of resources, and ongoing security challenges in the oil rich region, which had led to a reduction in the production of crude oil from the anticipated 2.2 million barrels to just above a million barrels. Invariably, these changes have exerted an overwhelming pressure on the non-oil sector, leading to an increase in gross inflation in the price of goods and commodities, high electricity tariffs, worsening foreign exchange rates, and a commensurate increase in consumer spending, among others.
More pathetic is the fact that many of the recent government policies and actions are yet to translate to a better standard of living and wellbeing at the grassroots level where prices of goods and commodities are still largely on the increase. In a country where Out of Pocket Payment (OOP) remains the common approach to accessing basic services like health and education, these services are forced down the priority lists among the masses to give way to survival, with an attendant rise in ill health and illiteracy, and widening inequality. Therefore, in proffering solutions, it is of utmost importance to analyse how Nigeria as a nation got to this frightful edge. The idea is to use the lessons to chart a way forward for the future.
To start with, documented evidence from other economies has shown that the development of a nation can be affected due to different human errors. The book What Matters Most by Jeffrey Hollender and Stephen Fenichell is one critical collection of events in the western world which chronicles the scandal of corporate global organisations in the Western countries around the late 1990s to about 2002. From the different analyses in this book, one important point that stands out is the singular fact of mismanagement where the primary focus was on increasing profit, even when it involved unwholesome and corrupt practices at the expense of the consumers and society who are also critical stakeholders in the survival of such businesses. These activities eventually led to the collapse of such businesses with an overarching impact on the economy. The writer, in his recommendations, cites ways of preventing such occurrence by providing an alternative business structure where the core values are premised on a triple bottom line of profit making, social protection and environmental stewardship. In his judgment, the writer concluded that the governments’ role of regulating businesses and their operations remain invaluable in promoting accountability and social protection for the citizenry.
