Stakeholders seek media deeper roles in shaping government economic direction

The applauded recent liberalisation of FX, occasioned partly by some financial media reports and concerns, tasks the media for more roles and responsibility in thinking and shaping government socio-economic direction.

For a year, the Buhari government held tight to FX controls, which according to media reports squeezed the economy and made investors’ confidence to wane.

“In fact certain sections of the media, especially the business-based media organisations should be commended for drawing and staying on the implications of FX controls which made government to change its mind, a media analyst told BusinessDay.

Economic analysts have since welcomed the FX liberalization stating that the development will see a marginal increase in portfolio inflow, capital importation, Diaspora remittances and export proceeds. This will positively impact investments, which will invariably push up job creation”

The government had earlier taken such critical decision to end fuel subsidy, a move forcibly rejected by Nigerians in 2012.

Following these positive developments, the media analysts are calling on the Nigerian media to think more for government and play more roles on its agenda- setting responsibility in addition to reporting other social issues and what government is doing.

Chido Nwakanma, the CEO of Blueflower communications, a public relations firm saw government move at liberalizing the FX as a commendable one but said that FX is one index of economic performance. He demanded that the media should be on government to give other directions and declare its policy on productivity and incentivize production.

Nwakanma and other business stakeholders regretted that one year of no clear policy direction, Nigeria lost investments. “We need to bring the investment confidence back and the media can assist here and show direction”, Nwakanma said.

Another communication expert who prefers anonymity regretted that some media celebrate and announce government activity almost daily in their medium with less interpretation and wonder whether they are writing for the masses or the government.

While commending government on the FX liberalization largely informed by stakeholder attacks through the media, the media expert challenged the Nigerian media to different themselves and move away from carrying the same content about government, and when it is inevitable, the content should come with much interpretations.

He further tasked the media to ask questions on the present government promises to the masses and lean on its agenda setting responsibility to give government more direction. “The media should ask more questions, give directions rather than the patronage reporting we see these days” he said.

In line with economic liberalization and what the media should be looking at, Ayo Teriba, the Chief Executive Officer of Economic Associates recently said that the inability of Nigerian government to deregulate various sectors such as rail transport, mining, energy among others has impeded the sectors from behaving like the telecommunication sector which grew astronomically in 15 years to contribute from less than one percent to about 10 percent to the country’s $ 510 billion GDP.

It is hard to understand why government is not mustering enough political will to de-regulate and reform various critical sectors even when it is acknowledged that such grip and control is stifling the inherent potentials including employment in those sectors but Teriba said that government needs to break its monopoly on certain sectors to loosen the economy for further local and foreign investments.

Teriba who is a leading policy consultant with experiences spanning over a decade said government needs to “end its own monopoly to create more access for FDI in rail transport, gas pipelines and power transmission as it is the case in telecommunication”

Expressing his concern on government continued strong-hold on sectors, the economist said that federal government monopoly has constituted, and continues to constitute, the biggest obstacle to the inflow of FDI into large network infrastructure sectors that could catalyze the growth of all other sectors in the Nigerian economy.

Daniel Obi