NIGERIA AT CROSSROADS

These are certainly not the best of times Nigeria and any one presently living in Nigeria.
In the first place hopes wrongly raised during last year's presidential campaign and baton change were too soon crushed by realities and neophyte leadership with very limited knowledge of the situation on the ground.
But that was easy to live with except that decisions that should have been taken on the crest of leadership goodwill were not taken and so, added to inter and intra party politics since the baton change, inherited wound festered almost beyond one surgical operation.
There was no way organised labour will have welcomed the new President in 2015 with well meant demand for new minimum wage.
There was no way too that militants and pipeline saboteurs would have increased their acts immediately the new government was sworn in.
Added these, compared to today, the Naira was still fairly strong and stable; crude oil price was yet at rock bottom and so many jobs since lost were still active even if some workers were being owed months in wages.
One decision that everyone certainly now regrets was not taken while Buhari had his honeymoon with the electorate was deregulation of the down stream petroleum sector.
Indeed, way back in 2012 Nigeria
lost the first chance to take the bitter pill but did not because then President Jonathan tried to smuggle it in while Nigerians were on holiday and because politics took over national sense.
Now at last, one year of one price today and another price tomorrow amidst always worsening scarcity, the Presidency has finally decided to deregulate the sector although still attempting to cap prices for fuel.
Good decision but wrong time, wrong sale and no more surgical enough to save the ailing Nigerian economy as fast as is needed now.
It was wrongly timed because Nigerians were yet to come to terms with inflationary pressures from very weak and vulnerable Naira, with the impact of the surge in internal revenue drive; still decaying infrastructure and creeping scarcity of some food items at the market place.
Wrong sale because there was no attempt to sell it at all to opinion moulding stakeholders like the organised labour and organised private sector.
Besides, this deregulation will lead to more Nigerian value added to national petroleum products supply and also save Nigeria so much in so called subsidy.
But all that will take time during which the pain in the form of galloping inflation especially with continued help from weak Naira and new minimum wage agitation or concession, could be too backbreaking for all living in Nigeria even including leaders who do everything at public expense.
Yet, the truth is this time around, Nigeria can not afford to say No to deregulation. If we do, the evil day will only be postponed again.
But do we really have a government that is driven by anything else other than politics and war against corruption?
If we do not, that is where the Nation called Nigeria is today at avoidable crossroads.

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