Can a New Buharinomics Save Nigeria?

Former central bank of nigeria (CBN) governor Prof Chukwuma Charles Soludo has no reason to regret his preference of president Muhammadu Buhari over Dr Goodluck Jonathan on the driver's seat of

the Nigerian economy . In a lecture he delivered in Lagos yesterday at third anniversary of Realnews magazine, the former CBN offers tips on how to get the economy back on track.

 The timing of this lecture is auspicious – coming in the sixth month after the inauguration of a new administration, and also with a new federal cabinet now in place. Before the government rolls out its full agenda, this is a good time to begin our citizen duty of joining the ever continuous discourse on the economy.

 Our focus for now shall be pre-emptive and provocative – to challenge the Buhari/APC regime not only to demonstrate that it can manage the economy better than the PDP but also that it can lay the foundation for sustainably shared prosperity in a post-oil economy.

Let me make three quick points to provide some context to our discourse. First, I supported President Muhammadu Buhari over Jonathan not because I was convinced about the credibility of the All Progressives Congress (APC) manifesto (and I said so in my article in January this year) but for three reasons. 

 I was convinced that the last economic team was bankrupting the economy and had no clue as to how to fix it. Second, PMB is the first president of Nigeria under a democracy to have seriously desired the job and struggled for it for over 12 years. To me therefore, he must have a few points to prove, and I was willing to bet on a man who purposefully wanted the job than otherwise. 

 Third, I was convinced that it would be in the enlightened self-interest of the APC, once in power to do their utmost to keep power by delivering on the economy unlike the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) which had taken power for granted. I am still confident that PMB can deliver change (although as I had indicated in my article in January, I didn’t believe that any of the two parties could deliver on their manifesto) but he and his team now need to run at the speed of a 1000 kilometre per hour.

 We must support them to succeed by contributing when we can, and criticising when we must -tough love! I am enjoying my status as ‘an independent’ (I don’t belong to APC or PDP) and I therefore have the liberty to say it as I see it from the balcony!

Second, I am happy that the ministers are now in place, and I believe the president has assembled a team of eminently qualified and experienced Nigerians. A more important point is that it is a team of ‘believers’ – who share in the mission and vision of APC. So, now that a strong team of ‘believers’ is in place, there can be no excuses!

Furthermore, I read in the media that the Vice President, Prof. Osinbajo indicated that he is “responsible for the economy”, and I believe President Buhari deserves great commendation for this fundamental delegation. No question, the buck stops on Mr. President’s table.