Bayo Onanuga, the Special Adviser on Information and Strategy to President Bola Tinubu, says the present administration’s new policies were not solely responsible for the economic challenges bewildering the country.
Onanuga said Nigerians were destined for the tough and rough patch, noting that the challenges bedevilling the country were inherited by Tinubu.
He said this in a statement on Saturday, December 23, 2023.
The presidential aide noted that the removal of fuel subsidy and the move to merge foreign exchange rates, two headline reforms introduced by Tinubu’s administration in May 2023, triggered problems such as high fuel prices and the depreciation of the naira, “two monstrosities which combined to cause a general spike in costs of services and goods”
Quoting the latest Nigeria’s inflation rate released by the NBS, Onanuga said: “To compound the economic problems, few multinational companies such as GlaxoSmithKline, Procter & Gamble have announced their exit from our country, complaining about the difficult operating environment and the scarcity of dollar.
“The truth is that the new policies alone are not solely responsible for the economic problems we are facing today.
“We were destined for the tough and rough patch, where we are today because of the prevailing conditions before Tinubu took over on 29 May.
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“As at June 2023, budget deficit was N10.8 trillion. Actual Debt service was 98.95 percent of revenue, far higher than the projected 59.37 percent.
“Inflow into the country’s foreign reserve came in trickles. And so bad was the state of affairs that Nigeria could not remit about $800 million fund of foreign airlines. JP Morgan exposed our near insolvency by claiming in a report that our net foreign reserve was just about $3.7 billion, not the $33 billion plus flaunted by Emefiele’s CBN.
“President Tinubu, who promised during the campaign to take hard and difficult decisions, moved to tackle the economic problems from Day One, by first dispensing with the wasteful fuel subsidy that was billed to consume about N7 trillion this year, five times more than what was provisioned for capital spending.
“President Tinubu is quite aware of the side effects of his move to reset our economy. Though his administration has earned plaudits from the World Bank, the IMF and rating agencies such as Moody’s and Fitch, he is not carried away by the praises.”
He stated that Tinubu is focussed on turning the economy round for growth, development, and prosperity, saying the moves have been yielding some good effects.
Onanuga added: “Amidst what some sections of the media perceive as general gloom, some silver linings are emerging, signposting that with a little more patience, our material conditions will improve and inflation will be tamed. For businesses, operating conditions will also improve.
“As the Minister of Budget and National Planning, Atiku Bagudu noted in a recent report, economic prosperity in our country will be achieved with the reforms being implemented, supported by strong monetary and fiscal policies, food supply management and other intervention programmes.
“President Tinubu who has never shied away from acknowledging the temporary pains triggered by the reforms, gave an assurance in a recent newspaper interview that his administration will continue to take proactive measures to wrestle with the problems.
“Many of these measures are already being taken and in the New Year, we expect the silver linings, that are at present understated, to blossom into rays of sunshine to be experienced by all Nigerians.”
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