TINUBU’S ECONOMIC COORDINATION COUNCIL. ALL MONEYBAGS, NO EGGHEADS
The Council has a mix of government officials, top private
sector players, and consultants including President of the Dangote Industries
Limited, Mr Aliko Dangote; Chairman of the United Bank of Africa, Mr Tony
Elumelu; and Chief Executive Officer of the Financial Derivatives Company
Limited, Bismarck Rewane.
Briefing State House Correspondents after the Inauguration
of the Council, Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy,
Mr Wale Edun said the Council is to meet and report to the President monthly.
According to Edun, President Tinubu presented the PECC with
the outcomes of his accelerated, stability, stabilization and advancement plan
which is an emergency plan to cover the next six months.
In addition, the Council is to galvanise the current
administration’s target of getting crude oil production up to two million
barrels per day.
Mr Edun also said the plan involves an N2trn package aimed at stabilising the economy and it includes:
Also speaking, billionaire business tycoon and Africa’s
richest man Dangote assured Nigerians that the PECC would come up with measures
that will help the economy bounce back in the shortest possible time.
Also, Elumelu commended the President for constituting the
Council as he pledged the commitment of the private sector.
Other members of the 31-member Council include Senate President
Godswill Akpabio; the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Tajudeen Abbas;
Chairman of the Nigeria Governors Forum, AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq; 12 ministers,
and the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Olayemi Cardoso.
Members from the Organised Private sector include Dangote;
Elumelu; Alhaji Abdul Samad Rabiu; Ms. Amina Maina, Mr Segun Ajayi-Kadir; Dr
Funke Opeke; Dr. Doyin Salami; Mr. Patrick Okigbo; Mr. Kola Adesina; Mr. Segun
Agbaje; Mr. Chidi Ajaere; Mr. Abdulkadir Aliu; and Mr. Rasheed Sarumi.
n addition, the Council is to galvanise the current
administration’s target of getting crude oil production up to two million
barrels per day.
Mr Edun also said the plan involves an N2trn package aimed at stabilising the economy and it includes:
* 350 billion Naira for Health and Social Welfare
* 500 billion Naira for Agriculture and Food Security
* 500 billion Naira for the Energy and Power sector
* 650 billion Naira for general business support
He further explained that the Federal Government is focusing
attention on boosting agricultural production in the country to ensure food
security.
Asiwaju is running a pure capitalism and it will not pay the
nation.
When you invite the likes of Aluko Dangote, Femi Otedola,
Jim Ovia, Tony Elumelu, Atedo Peterside, Jimoh Ibrahim and Aig Imhokuede to
come and reform and economy, you can be sure that the masses will suffer. Their
target will be income generation and not job creation.
Their policies will favour the rich more than the poor
masses.
It more or less amounts to handing the economy over to the
capitalist leaders of the private sector. It is also an indictment on the
Government economic team. The heads of Ministries, Departments and Agencies of
Government have fumbled and wobbled through the past year in office without any
concrete economic policy direction.
The regime has been characterized by policy summersaults and
a terrible disconnect between agencies of Government.
The Tinubu administration has also not been faithful or truthful to Nigerians. Misinformation, disinformation and outright deceit has bred distrust in the government.
Corruption has also become hydra-headed with many members of
this administration committing heinous financial crimes and still walking free.
To tackle this daunting problems would require the services
of Public Sector Macro-Economists and experts in International Economic
Diplomacy.
These experts Nigeria is blessed with in no short supply.
Previous governments since 1999 have involved this class of
Nigerians in governance and have delivered on their mandates.
Nigeria’s President Bola Ahmed Tinubu does not seem to have
a flair for eggheads and think tanks. His preference is for the capitalist
captains of industry and commerce, and his old Lagos team.
How come no professor of economics from our universities is
included in the team. Is it because Professors of economics are on less than
N500,000 per month and are not rich like Femi Otedola and Aliko Dangote?
There also no known economic experts but people who have mastered
the art of making money, but not making people. They are giants of the private
sector un-schooled in the affairs of the public sector.
Of note also is the fact that some of the members of the council
are arch enemies and power tussles and personal interests are not unexpected to
take precedence over patriotic zeal.
It is sad that the President chose MONEYBAGS who are part of
the problems over EGGHEADS and THINK TANKS and expects miracles to happen.
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