Nigeria is in a critical time as the #EndBadGovernanceProtest spreads around the country with Nigerians of all ages taking to the streets to register their pain and displeasure with the Federal Government.
The protesters, led by the younger population, have made their demands clear. Displaying placards with varying inscriptions, the message has been that of hunger, and lack of hope for a better tomorrow.
As the protests spread, Commodity Price International (CPI), released a statement proposing a number of solutions which they tagged “Quick Fixes From Tinubu In Our Opinion” to reduce the economic hardship in the country, appease Nigerians, end the #EndBadGovernanceProtest and buy more time for heavy liftings.
The CPI is an independent organisation established in 2009 to provide information and market intelligence reports to commodity traders, investors and enthusiasts.
iBrandtv.com caught up with the CEO/Founder of CPI, Adegboyega Ojuolape, who shed more light on their recommendations.
During the interview, Mr Ojuolape revealed that their recommendations were ideas he had been advocating for months.
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According to Ojuolape, he believes Nigeria needs these solutions now, more than ever to save its dying economy.
Here are excerpts from the interview:
iBrandtv.com: What inspired your recommendation of “quick fixes” to the President?
Ojuolape: The quick wins I recommended were based on my research of other nations who had found themselves at the crossroads we are today but were able to navigate their ways out successfully.
iBrandtv.com: Does this mean you think President Tinubu deserves more time to see through his reforms for a better Nigeria?
Ojuolape: Every process of growth and reformation requires time, so yes, he needs more time, but the reforms must have a realistic time frame. There also must be cushioning effects and soft landings while the pain is being felt.
It’s like removing your tooth at the dentist. Anaesthesia is required to reduce the pain being felt.
The truth is President Tinubu doesn’t have time, and he wouldn’t be given that time he thinks he needs, so he needs to devise the means to implement the reforms on one end, while he thinks of ways to calm frayed nerves on the other part.
iBrandtv.com: But the #EndBadGovernanceProtest shows that Nigerians have lost patience.
What are your thoughts about the end hunger protests across the country?
Ojuolape: People have the right to demand better living conditions. It is one of the interesting things about democracy.
People are required to let their elected representatives know if they are fine with what they are doing or not. Albeit, they have to do it in a peaceful manner.
iBrandtv.com: The supporters of President Tinubu believe he is doing a good job, do you think so too?
Ojuolape: As a president, your supporters can be likened to your immediate family. They will always support you regardless.
I have an idea of what the president is trying to do, but I think he can do it differently from the way he is doing it currently.
We all agree that the current reforms are necessary, but the implementation is what I think can be done differently.
iBrandtv.com: For the first time in a long time, Nigerians seem divided on the idea of protesting against hardship. Does this mean President Tinubu remains popular despite the monumental crash of the economy under his watch?
Ojuolape: Politics is always a game of numbers. It is a battle between your unrepentant supporters vs your unrepentant critics, but the economy is different. Economic performance is determined by statistics. Statistics are indices and facts that drive the economy of a nation, they don’t lie.
I wouldn’t know about his popularity as I do not have a reliable survey right now to determine that but the current inflation figures from the National Bureau of Statistics do not suggest that the economy is doing well right now.
This is what the president should be more bothered about.
iBrandtv.com: The biggest problem facing Nigerians is the high cost of food. How can the FG curb the food inflation which is a direct consequence of the oil subsidy removal?
Ojuolape: In his inaugural speech as president on May 29, 2023, President Tinubu told the whole nation that oil subsidy is gone. Then, he promised to set up a commodity board that would ensure that food prices remain stable.
It has been 14 months since then, I ask, where is the commodity board? We all knew that the first casualty of oil subsidy removal would be the transport sector, and the transport sector and food price go hand in hand.
What the government needs to do urgently now is to set up a commodity board that works with NIRSAL (The Nigeria Incentive-Based Risk Sharing System for Agricultural Lending) to provide inputs for farmers such as seeds, fertilizers, pesticides, labour wages etc to farm, they set up a futures price for the produce, then the commodity board buys off the produce for a price and sell to the public through commodity aggregation centres set up across the 774 LGAs of the country. They can start with staple foods such as rice, beans, wheat, yam, corn, fruits and vegetables etc.
The ministry of Agriculture with the board will have officials across the 774 LGAs ensuring price stability and non-profiteering.
iBrandtv.com: How about the fluctuating exchange rate? What is the solution?
Ojuolape: We just don’t have enough dollar supply in my opinion. Many analysts claim the solution is production. That we need to produce more of what we consume locally instead of importing.
I agree with this as a long-term solution, but knowing how long it took China, Vietnam and Taiwan to achieve this, I feel we can take a cue from Singapore and Egypt.
Let us use tourism as a way to make forex flow into the Nigerian economy.
Let the FG privatise all the existing tourism sites it is managing. Fix all the roads and airports leading to major tourist sites. Advertise vigorously on CNN, BBC and Aljazeera that Nigeria is open to tourists.
Sponsor and brand all popular carnivals and cultural events like Calabar Carnival, Ojude Oba festival, Argungu Fishing festival, Kano DURBAR festival etc.
This will boost foreign exchange in the short term as we continue to work on other forex supply channels such as gas, improved oil production, solid minerals, agro exports, tech, manufacturing and agro processing.
iBrandtv.com: Many experts like yourself believe that the president has made major mistakes whose impacts are irreversible, do you agree?
Ojuolape: I believe that the oil subsidy removal can be better managed, and the unification of the forex window can be reversed.
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The subsidy removal can be managed if the local refineries, both govt owned and privately owned are functioning.
Dangote refinery needs crude to provide cheaper fuel for Nigerians while the govt refineries can be privatized for same purpose.
It’s simple economics, if the market is flooded with locally refined oil, the price will crash as we do not have to import again. Costs like freight, insurance, loading and offloading will automatically be out of it.
As regards the flotation of Naira, you can’t float the naira against other currencies when you do not have enough supply of those currencies.
We need to first work on the inflow of forex into the economy first.
For now, let’s go back to the old practise. What is just required is for the CBN to close up the differentials between the CBN rate and the parallel market like it’s doing currently.
iBrandtv.com: Tell us about Commodity Price International
Ojuolape: Commodity Price International provides the latest market intelligence reports and analyses on commodities and commodity prices in Nigeria.
The firm was established in 2009 to fill the white space of privately led real time Agro and solid minerals market data collation as well as build a database of all direct and indirect participants in the Nigerian agro and solid mineral sector.
We also operate a website where Nigerians can get the latest information about the prices of commodities across the country.
iBrandtv.com: With your closeness to the markets and knowledge of where the shoe hurts, would you consider taking a role in government someday to further contribute your ideas to building the economy?
Ojuolape: I will always provide unsolicited support and counsel to the government of the day as the prosperity of Nigeria is mine as well.
As regards a government appointment in the future, I do not know what the future as in store for me.
For now, Nigeria needs to be fixed as quickly as possible.
iBrandtv.com: Thank you for your time.
Ojuolape: Thank you too, for having me.
