Two erudite internationally-acclaimed scholars, Professors Farooq Kperogi and Godwin Oyedokun, have taken a critical look at the performance of the Nigerian Economy vis-a-viz the claims in growth and stability by Federal Government and declared that there are no indications of improvement in the economy.
The scholars who featured on the popular monthly interview discourse, Boiling Point Arena, pointedly declared that it is too early to embark on jubilation over any improvement in the economy particularly when juxtaposed with the glaring reality that Nigerians are sinking deeper into poverty in unimaginable proportion.
They however agreed that there was significant growth, stability and expansion in key sectors of the economy, but not enough to make the people to want to celebrate.
The programme was hosted by a professional public relations strategist, Dr Ayo Arowojolu and transmitted via Zoom and broadcast live on six radio stations in Lagos, Ogun and Delta States with the topic of discourse as: “Economic Narratives Vs Lived Realities: Measuring the Real Impact of Government Policies on Household Survival in Nigeria”.
In his assessment of the situation, Prof Kperogi, who is based in Atlanta, United States, gave President Bola Ahmed Tinubu serious knocks for inflicting pains, agony and sufferings on Nigerians through the precipitous removal of fuel subsidy on his first day of assumption of office.
He explained that the wellbeing of citizens is the only parameters to judge growth like it happened in South Korea and Singapore, adding that the mark of the progress of any country or nation, any community of people, is how well they take care of the weakest members of their society and the most vulnerable, the poorest.
Kperogi specifically said that the precipitous removal of fuel subsidy is the reason for the ongoing torture of Nigerians, adding that what is happening right now in Nigeria is the consequence of an unrestrained implementation of neoliberal politics, of neoliberal economics.
In the words of Prof. Kperogi; “If you look at the history of SAP, most of us grew up knowing it as Structural Adjustment Programme. Removal of fuel subsidy is irresponsible abdication of responsibility by government. This has happened in other countries that have implemented similar policies of IMF and World Bank, just like Argentina which is another country that is implementing almost exactly the same policies by the Tinubu Administration.
“Argentina is probably the only country in the world that is worse than Nigeria in terms of the welfare of the people, in terms of the decline and the hollowing out of the middle class and the pauperisation of the mass of the people. But the people are literally eating from the dustbins in Argentina.
“If you look at the metrics, the abstract metrics, there is growth. They always come out to say the economy has grown 3%, 4% and that we have turned round the corner.
“No wonder why there is a disjunction between what the government says is happening and the everyday lived reality of people. And the reason for this is that growth without development, that is, without people feeling it, is not development.
“What is happening basically right now is that the government has been inflicting hell for the poor people while there is paradise for the extraordinarily rich people.
Speaking in turn, Prof Oyedokun, an economist and accounting professional who lectures at Lead City University, Ibadan, while defending some of the economic policies of the Tinubu regime, also agreed that the abrupt removal of petrol subsidy was “an unnecessary aggrandizement and misplaced priority” which triggered poverty in the country.
Prof Oyedokun, noted that the claim by the government that there is growth and expansion of the economy is quite correct, but was quick to add that poverty was still greatly manifesting in the lives of overwhelming proportion of the populace.
According to Oyedokun; “When we say development and growth, the first question to ask is that, is government lying? The answer is No. Government is not lying. If you look at the recent figures, you will see that there is recovery and external stability in Nigeria which reflect what we call balance of payment surplus.
“And this is the angle they are coming from. Even World Bank is also saying this. We have seen that we have economic expansion of about 4.6% in the fourth quarter of 2024. So, the service sector is also improving, and it has been dominated by about 57.5% in terms of GDP. If you look at this, it speaks to where they are coming from,
especially the Minister of Finance, recently saying that the economy is growing and the likes.
“But the persistence in terms of reality continues, because despite all this, and according to what Prof Kperogi said, poverty remains deep and pervasive. And I won’t deny that, because if I am not mistaken, about 39% of Nigerians live below the poverty line,” he said.
The programme which lasted for two-hours was broadcasted live on Kruzz FM, Asaba, WASH FM, Lagos, Sweet FM, Abeokuta, Roots FM, Abeokuta, Ẹrimbe FM, Shagamu, and Women Radio FM, Mowe.
