TYPICAL NIGERIAN FIND IT HARD TO BELIEVE THAT NIGERIA IS IN ECONOMIC RECESSION-Mayowa Adeleye

We all learnt from history that change has never been attained by nation states on a bed of roses, but rather, through patience, perseverance and steadfastness, however, Nigerian leaders must lead by examples for Nigerians to indeed believe Nigerian leaders that Nigeria is indeed in economic recession and not just the masses that are in recession.

Why a typical Nigerian find it very hard to believe that Nigeria is in economic recession indeed?

1. How can we be in recession and Federal govt plan to spend over N200bn on FCT capital projects alone in 2016 Budget at time when no single geopolitical zone in Nigeria get up to N80bn for capital project? Is NIGERIA building a new FCT in recession?

2. How can we be in recession and Presidency house and keep servicing 10 aeroplanes and 3 helicopters on the presidential fleets?

3. How can we be in recession and under 500 members of the 8th NASS have N115bn set for them in 2016 for recurrent spending ?

4. How can we be in recession still FG spends on a monthly basis N159bn for recurrent spending (salaries, allowances etc) on 2 million Nigerians in the Federal Government payrolls out of the 180million Nigerian populations?

5. How can we be in recession and since August 2015, the Revenue Mobilization, Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC) is yet to come out open to Nigerians the outcome of the downward reviews of remuneration appropriated to all political elected and political appointed public office holders in all tiers and all arms of government in Nigeria to ensure conformity with the changing realities?

6. How can we be in recession still each State Governor in Nigeria still pocket N500m monthly as security votes unaccounted for ?

7. How can we be in recession and Nigerian Senators Bought 36 Imported Toyota Land Cruisers SUV V8 2016 Model @ N35m Each At Twice The Original Price of N17m? Still many Senators justified the purchase of the exotic jeeps for over N 36m each! #NotMadeInNigeria.

8. How can we be in recession and each of 36 Nigerian Ministers has 3 to 4 cars (in the range of one land cruiser, 2 Hilux cars) ?

9. How much does it cost Nigerian tax payers to keep and maintain each of the official vehicles of each and every director in the civil service and the perm sec even in the middle of recession?

10. How can we be in recession and each member of every state House of Assembly has either a Prado or a Land Cruiser Jeep?

To prove to Nigerian masses that Government is quite aware of their pains and inconveniences of the citizenry, those at the corridor of authority must reduce their recurrent spendings and remunerations (salaries, allowances etc) and their lavish lifestyle to convince Nigerians of Government faithfulness to implement programmes in fulfilment of the change agenda.

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HOW NIGERIA CAN GET OUT OF ECONOMIC RECESSION?
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We call the growth period economic prosperity. When it contracts, we say there is recession. Untreated recession can lead to depression!

Way Out?

Diversification! Import Substitution! Backward Integration! Cut of Bloated Recurrent Spending! Increase Capital Project Spending!
Government must guarantee safety of lives and property! Sustaining fight against corruption and development of innovative processes to prevent corrupt practices!

Nigeria must totally move from corruption economy to production economy.

Recession is not only a regular occurrence in economies; it is also a universal phenomenon.

President Buhari led FG must address several problems listed above to win the confidence of the masses to believe that Nigeria Recession Is not Only "Masses Recession" and not the Elites.

The president must pass message to the mind of Nigerians to cut and slash all over-bloated recurrent spending in the political class. He must give hope, confidence and strategy to the people.

This will enable the nation to overcome the recession as a people.
Untreated recession can lead to depression that can lead to financial crises, widespread unemployment, riots, the fall of the government, default on the country’s foreign debt, the rise of alternative currencies.

We don't pray for that in Nigeria. We don't want the crisis of confidence erosion that could affect the capacity of the Nigeria government to borrow new funds. As the risk increased by the perception of investors and lenders, the cost of borrowing increased in the country. No country will bail Nigeria out..!!!

Nigeria government can work on foreign debt restructuring to help Nigeria reduce amount being spent on debt servicing.

Nigerian Government must trim its bloated government recurrent spending. Nigerians are looking at the lifestyles of their leaders. It does not reflect austerity measures across board.

Nigeria must cut back on running bloated federal bureaucracy as those calling for restructuring have points to back their claim for too much spending at the central when many Nigerians at the interior inter-land grassroots are hopeless and living in poverty.

Out of N6.3 trillion budget, over N2 trillion is going to be spent on salaries and wages of 2 million civil servants or 1.1 % of the population apart from overhead expenses. What is the hope of the 178 million Nigerians that are not on government payrolls?

It's high time President Buhari call on the Revenue Mobilization, Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC) chairman to justify his relevance to Nigeria!!!!!

The earlier the Nigerian policymakers learn devise the best strategies to deal with the present hard times, the better for the nation’s future.