By Nik Ogbulie
Nigerians are in love with numbers. Every activity is tied to numbers. This has continued to resonate over the years because they have so much been taken for granted by their various leaders, past and present. Nigerians feel that it is easy to track the performance of their political leaders with numbers instead of waiting for the whole period their mandate lasts. With this, they are promptly reminded of their fits and starts so that they can easily adjust and apply the reverse if it becomes expedient. This is why you can always see a celebration and a knock at every 100 days, 200 days, one year etc, etc. But whether this adoption has changed or changes anything leaves much to be desired. As a matter of fact, this numbering calculation has offered Nigerians a more critical dimension in measuring performance, even as it imposes on leaders the opportunities to deny and blame their predecessors or policies and even the constitutions for their roles over that very short period. This feature has come to stay as a forced or imposed new format for public accountability to leaders who would naturally not tell Nigerians anything. This trend has also been a message to those leaders with very poor governance issues that Nigerians can no longer be taken for a ride.
In his 100 days in office, Nigerians saw flickers of optimism and courage to take decisions but submerged in an execution jam that snowballs into multiplicities of gruelling economic consequences.
There are today three major dragons in the house that must be taken away if any reasonable progress would be made. Attempts have been made since the first 100 days to eliminate the dragons but the strategies for the removal have returned most Nigerians to the various campaign debates which emphasised capacity, capability, willpower, and commitment. The major issue, which was Subsidy, was dealt with but in the most uncouth approach, which dignifies grandstanding as against positive market impact. Subsidy was the main
dragon which came with three offspring capable of ruining any economy. Inside the subsidy question lies the ravaging forex instability, spiralling fuel price, and excruciating food and commodity inflation. Nigerians believe that their situations in the last 100 days could be said to have been more difficult than in the past mainly due to some policy changes in the economic management processes which have implementation gaps. These gaps may not have been premeditated but became obvious due to attempts to impress many Nigerians who had raised so many doubts about the capacity of the leadership during the electoral campaigns.
A look into the various economic indices and the body movement of most operators in the informal segment of the Nigerian market can see that a lot of holes are therein to torment them. Some of them include the rising transport cost, increasing tuition cost in schools, growing tax demands, rise in tariffs of all kinds, expanded insecurity across the regions, increased level in infrastructure deficit in many critical sectors of the economy etc.
There are strong indications that the Tinubu administration is extending its nets across the globe for more positive performance, but this may obviously not come so soon based on the existing ways and means of their implementation.
What has made the Tinubu administration look like a non-performer in its 100 days is the fact that it is like a carryover of the Buhari administration which Tinubu, as National leader of the party, was a major player. Again Nigerians are still taking his subsidy removal “gift” with a pinch of salt considering his role in 2012 when the same party vehemently opposed subsidy removal mutted by past administrations.
There are strong indications that the economic situation may not be better in due course based on the fact that the price of oil at the international market will continue to rise to the extent that the price of fuel in the country will continue rising if the government is sincere with deregulation. Unless someone quickly does something to the existing refineries or does something about refineries. And as long as Nigeria continues to be a major fuel importer even from non-oil producing economies, all these perceived difficulties will persist. What it implies is forex availability will get worse and inflation will be higher, government revenue from companies will fall because of closure and unemployment will rise more and more, while infrastructure will continue to decay for lack of maintenance.
What Nigerians may not want to hear is that Subsidy has really not gone. The government has brought it from the back door by the directive that the pump price of fuel must no longer be increased because of the entire effect on the economy, especially to transportation and food inflation. What this also means is that the government will continue to fill the price gap of fuel imported by NNPCL. Government has not explained what the independent operators will do in the case of the continued rise in price of fuel at the international market.
What happens now is that after 100 days, subsidy is still indirectly around, as government still wonders what to do with the dragons it met in its party-house and the new offspring that have become the consequences of its action or inaction.
The fact remains that Nigerians are very resilient people and would continue to manage themselves even at breaking point.
This country has really done anything and avoided many things to survive.
