The Economy

With swarms of beggars on our streets and destitution in millions of homes, Nigeria is a very poor country indeed. Three out of every four Nigerians live below the international poverty line of US$2.00 per day. Half of our children are malnourished and half also are not enrolled in school. Most adults are unemployed; and the average expectation of life is just fifty years. These surely are cruel realities which any political party intending to grapple with the problems of our national life must face.

The problems of the Nigerian economy are not resource-related. In terms of endowment, we are exceptionally rich. Even in terms of current income which is estimated at the beginning of the year to be N1.15 trillion, we should be comfortable. The federally collectable revenue will certainly double in a few years time as petroleum sales rise and new gas trains are commissioned.

Our main problem is that the Nigerian economy (and indeed the Nigerian experience itself) have been shaped by dictatorships both military and civilian. To those who have controlled the nation, what mattered most were their own security, the benefits they passed on to their support base and the creation of a national buffer of clients, hangers-on, flatterers and secondary looters. The result was the cruel, corrupt and inefficient prebendiary system which we call the Nigerian state. Nobody bothered about the people as the raison d’etre of government nor about the work and welfare of the people as the ultimate wealth of the nation.

These difficulties will surely come to an end as the system is truly democratized.

The goal of the All Progressive Grand Alliance is to build democratic foundations for economic growth and development. At the core of that foundation will be the diversification of our mono-cultural lifeline through the development of solid minerals, manufacturing for export to the West African sub-region and agriculture for food sufficiency. To achieve these objectives, it will be important to maintain macroeconomic stability in order to encourage long term planning and foreign investment.

APGA will work for the creation of a national economy that is people-centred and private-sector-driven. The role of government will be essentially to facilitate and umpire the process of developing agreed national aims and objectives and thereafter to manage fiscal and monetary policies well enough to raise our global competitiveness.

APGA recognizes that no effort has yet been made to reach national agreement on many important issues.

i. The precise nature of the linkage between the Nigerian economy and the world economy is a matter of deep misunderstanding between the Federal Government, the National Assembly, the Manufacturers Associations, the Trade Union Congress, the intellectual community and other stakeholders.

ii. Although it is clear that the economy should be restructured, it is by no means agreed that the key instruments for that restructuring should, without considerable modifications, be deregulations, privatisation, trade liberalisation, globalisation, etc. Opinion from different parts of the Federation differs on this point and any unilateral action taken now runs the risk of being reversed latter.

iii. There is need to reach agreement about the management of the Federation Account. The main source of funds for national development is the revenue from petroleum which is subject to violent fluctuations. In good times, there is a problem of making provisions for the rainy day just as there is a problem of controlling the amount of cash which should go into circulation at any given time. But apparently there has been no discussion of these issues between the Federal Government, the state government and local government councils.

The failure to seek a reconciliation of opinions on the management of the Federal Account, budgeting and economic reconstruction shows the poverty of the democratic culture which we have at the present time.

APGA will take the following measures to change the economic life of the nation:

i. It will establish (or reinvigorate) an Inter- Governmental Economic Council charged with responsibility for reconciling opinions on all matters of economic policy and procedure. The Presidency, the National Assembly, State Governments, the business community, the Trade Union Congress, other stakeholders and resource persons will be members of the Council; and it is not the intention that any governmental institution will be in a position to impose its will upon the others.

ii. APGA will reduce the Rediscount Rate and the Interest Rate in order to provide opportunities to business for long-term credit to speed up the expansion of business and employment opportunities.

iii. APGA will insist upon a stricter enforcement of foreign exchange controls with a view to stabilizing the purchasing power of the Naira and making forward planning for businesses more effective.

iv. APGA will intensify the effort to re-build the social and economic infrastructure, most notably roads. Telecommunications, electric power and water supply. Apart from the general enhancement of life, the rehabilitation of utilities will reduce the cost of doing business and contribute to economic expansion.

v. APGA will re-assess the guideline for venture capital and industrial credit with the object of making the banking sector play a more constructive role in the economy.

vi. To fight inflation and promote financial discipline in the system. APGA will insist that all governments shall balance their budgets and desist from extra-budgetary expenditure.

The programme of privatisation and bringing foreign capital into power generation, telecommunications, water supply, the oil and gas industries and petrochemicals will certainly have far-reaching consequences in the national economy. But APGA believes that equal emphasis should be placed on small-scale enterprises, the rural economy and the informal sector. The party will make every effort, through government -funded research, pilot schemes, easier bank credit and technical assistance, to breathe new life into the work and welfare of the people.