This economy isn’t working

At the real risk of sounding like a broken record, it must be said that this economy is not working, as some in government will want the people to believe. The Nigerian economy can’t work for as long as it remains sub-optimal in the production and processing of oil, which contributes the chunk of national revenues and exports.  And Nigeria’s oil industry remains the only one in decline globally. A car cannot be said to be working when its engine is wobbling.

And there are more woes. This economy can’t work when it accounts for less than 5 per cent of the global $44bn palm oil industry where Nigeria once held the commanding heights.

Our economy can’t be said to be working when unemployment is at record highs and Nigeria is now grouped with the rather unenviable nations like Mauritania, Cape Verde and war ravaged Cote d’Ivoire as nations with the most acute form of unemployment in the world.

This economy isn’t working because it totters under the suffocating weight of an economically senseless and bogus oil subsidy regime. The Nigerian economy can’t work with a decrepit educational system that ensures that only two of every hundred graduate applicants for manufacturing jobs are found employable.  And neither can the economy work when the bulk of its expenditure goes to fund the wage bill of government workers and their bosses who insist on flying first class as they junket around the world while key infrastructure is left derelict at home.

This economy is not working and can’t work when the majority of the people grope in worsening darkness, with total power generation now averaging below 3000MW.

This economy isn’t working unless you are talking about the well heeled and well-connected few who acquire private jets with their mind-boggling profit from crude oil swap deals or proceeds from waivers. And a 6.9 per cent GDP growth that is not inclusive cannot by itself make this one a working economy.