Apologies amid a struggling economy

In the last 10 months since a new government came into power in Nigeria, the country has seen enough superlative negatives that have not only deflated the change mantra that brought it into existence, but also lowered the capability of its managers in the estimation of Nigerians and their friends.

Within this period, the country has seen the most difficult socio-economic condition evidenced in the worst fuel scarcity with the longest queues ever seen at petrol stations; the lowest power generation that once came down to zero, the highest foreign exchange regime that has brought the value of the local currency to the level of vegetable, and the most violent elections ever seen in the country, all combining to unleash the worst misery and hardship ever suffered in an otherwise rich country.

The federal government has, however, come out at some points, to say it is sorry, hence the need to recall that the president, Muhammadu Buhari, was compelled by worsening fuel scarcity situation in December last year and March this year to apologize to Nigerians for the hardship inflicted on them by that avoidable scarcity.

Again, the president has apologized to Nigerians for the violence that marred the conduct of re-run elections in Kogi, Bayelsa and Rivers states where innocent Nigerians, including a youth corps member, were brutally killed by desperate politicians and their agents.

The government has also apologized, through the minister for information, Lai Mohammed, for a disgraceful power generation in the country which came down from over 5,000 megawatts to less than 3,000 megawatts and to zero, at some point, leaving the country to wallow in darkness with increased strain on household and organizational income and expenditure.

Yet another apology has come from the government through Ibe Kachikwu, the Minister of State for Petroleum, who after telling Nigerians that he was not trained as a magician and therefore incapable of finding a quick fix for the killing fuel problem in the country, recanted and turned round to say he was sorry, explaining that he was only joking with “my media friends”.

Like many other Nigerians, we welcome the government’s apologies bearing in mind that it takes courage and uncommon humility to admit a mistake and to say sorry, more so when one thinks he has failed to either do what is expected of him or to keep a promise he was not coerced to make.

Unlike many Nigerians however, we feel uncomfortable with government’s repetitive apologies for its failure to take simple economic steps or come up with policies that could put an end to those things that have subjected Nigerians to untold hardship and also put the economy in dire straits.

We consider it illogical and self-defeating whatever argument government has for not liberalizing and deregulating the downstream sector of the petroleum industry; privatizatising the refineries, and devaluaing the naira which has, unwittingly, devalued itself given its unofficial exchange rate.

Ours is a struggling economy that can ill-afford apologies from the government and its officials that had boasted of capacity to turn the country around once they were given the opportunity to ‘serve’.

The economy is bleeding in equal measure as Nigerians are groaning with a good number of them caving in under the heavy load and excruciating pain from a dysfunctional system, yet all they hear and get from their government are apologies, not even a cajoling promise, let alone a concrete action.

We align with the view that government’s apologies are not enough to assuage the pains already inflicted on citizens, and that the President should go beyond apologising to Nigerians for the miscalculated steps his administration has taken and begin to formulate policies and programmes that will not only bring immediate relief, but also engender confidence in the economy for investors to return to the country.

In a country where household income has diminished almost irredeemably; where productive capacity has dropped considerably; where projected economic growth is now less than 3 percent, down from 7 percent, and inflation is now measured in double digit (over 12 percent by the last count), apologies serve no purpose, and we are calling on the government to keep their apologies for now and seek solutions which both the people and the economy need urgently.