OPEN LETTER TO THE PRESIDENT, BOLA AHMED TINUBU – III

 

 

 

 

The President of the Federal Government of Nigeria,

Alhaji Bola Ahmed Tinubu.                                                                               25 November, 2023.

 

OPEN LETTER TO THE PRESIDENT, ALHAJI BOLA AHMED TINUBU – III

 

Your Excellency,

OPEN LETTER TO THE PRESIDENT OF NIGERIA, ALHAJI BOLA AHMED TINUBU-III

Once again, I greet you for the many actions taken, and the promises to enhance the betterment of Nigeria. The road is really tough. It is also tougher and harder for Nigerians to endure the hardship, but we look forward to better days ahead according to your promises.

1. RETREAT FOR THE CABINET: It is good that the president organized a three-day retreat for the Cabinet members and Heads of Departments, and that they were given strong warning to perform or in the alternative, drop out of office. It is a welcome approach. Has each Minister been given strategies

and the goals towards which they will direct their energies for the next year, and also for the next four years?

2. STRATEGIC PLANS: What are the strategic plans for enhancing development in Nigeria? Have they been given to the Ministers? Or are they in the President’s locker? What is the Roadmap for moving Nigeria towards nation-building as mentioned in my Open Letter to The President– II, and published online by some newspapers? Reference could be made to those published letters – I and II by the Nation Newspaper online, 13 May and 15 May; and Tribune online 13 May and 19 September; and Hope Newspaper 28 May 2023. Have each Minister and Government Department been given objectives or goals to achieve for the four years? Are the goals specific? Are they measurable? In short, are they SMART goals? Secondly, how will they be measured? Is the procedure for measuring them been put in place in clear and visible form or data, to the Ministers and the Departments? Does the procedure for measuring the goals and objectives sufficiently serve as self-appraisal for all those concerned?

The short-term measures and actions alone may be good but insufficient for long-term development. It is these specific goals and strategies flowing from careful analysis of current situations in Nigeria that should form the Roadmap to Development in Nigeria. A Roadmap that focuses on the future of the country. They should keep the Cabinet members on their toes throughout without them lagging into “Business As Usual Syndrome.” The goals and the strategies, if planned for four years, should consequently lead to nation-building.

3. Presidential Statements at United Nations General Assembly, (UNGA): Your statements at the UNGA are a relief to right-thinking Nigerians who are sufficiently unbiased, and open-minded to appreciate the import of the statements to the world body. Do we already have the plans “To Walk The Talk”? The developed world may be watching and waiting in the wings to see and possibly block our moves through diplomacy and subtle advice which may do us no good. It is we who should do it ourselves.

Please remember that as mentioned in my first and second letters, dictations from the developed countries and their agencies, that is, the World Bank and IMF, should be avoided. Other European countries and China never accept such dictations from those agencies.

4. FLOATING THE NAIRA: The decision to float the naira as monetary policy by the CBN without control over the dollar has normally made the value of our currency to drop at an alarming rate. That is what we are experiencing now. Inflation as a result is also rising. Nigerians are complaining about the rising inflation and the effect on prices. Nigeria and indeed any African or third-world country can never achieve economic development by following IMF and World Bank directives. Leaving the currency to market forces without control over the dollar is like holding “a candlelight in the wind.”

The currency exchange rate will neither be stable nor enhance our development and will always be at the mercy of the developed countries whose only interest is to extort our resources for their own development. There is no ally in economic development between the developing nations and developed countries. I wish to repeat for the third time that the approach should be to always “Look at the developed world through the prism of competition.”

5. Fuel Subsidy Scam: The scam called “fuel subsidy” was blown open during the time of President Jonathan. That the president has decided to investigate it is a welcome decision. From what we read in the papers or news, the notable lawyer, Mr. Femi Falana has promised to assist the government, using a team of lawyers to recover not less than $200 billion from the subsidy thieves. The government should not wave aside this promise but instruct him with appropriate guidelines to go ahead immediately. It is time we faced this obnoxious corruption and eliminated it. FINALLY!

6. Rising Prices: Many Government Departments and Government Agencies have increased prices on their services to the public citing the increased cost of fuel. Even though the services do not require the use of petrol or diesel, they claim that their increases result from the cost of fuel. It is their actions, hiding under the high cost of fuels and the high cost of the dollar in the country, that compound the rising prices and trigger increased inflation in the country. These insincere actions work at cross purposes to government and impede the correct approach to development. The FGN should investigate and do something in this regard.

7. CBN’s policy of removing restrictions on the importation of food products into the country is not particularly pleasant. Short-time measures aimed at cushioning the effect of rising prices without consideration for the overall effect on the development of our industries will not solve our problem. It is the dollar-naira exchange that should be tackled. Removal of the restriction is particularly bad for Agriculture and Agro-Industries. The agricultural issue was addressed in my Open Letters to the President – I and II. No developed country ever leaves its doors open to all manner of goods. I wish to repeat here as I mentioned in those two letters that developed countries, especially the US, UK, and Japan do not leave their doors open for agricultural products to enter their countries without some restriction. They understand the dynamics of food production and food security and so subsidize their agriculture and give out loans for agriculture at below 2% interest rate, to make food available to everybody at reasonable prices; they don’t carry out measures that kill local industries, or devalue their currencies.

May your tenure be blessed.

 

Akin Akinfe.

Araromi-Obu,

Odigbo Local Government.

Phone: 07063617155

Email: samakinfe@yahoo.com

Published by:

1. The Hope Newspaper, 29 November, 2023.

2. African Newspapers of Nigeria, The Tribune, 6 December, 2023.