PRESIDENT Bola Tinubu last week raised the stakes in his effort to bring the economy back on easy street by mobilising talents from a broad spectrum of stakeholder groups into the newly-formed Presidential Economic Coordination Council, PECC.

The PECC is the highest economic body which the president chairs, with the Vice President and Chairman of the constitutional body, the National Economic Council, NEC, Senator Kashim Shettima, as the Vice Chairman. Tinubu also established the Economic Management Team Task Force, EET, which, together with the pre-existing Economic Team led by Wale Edun, will act as the engine room, striking arm and leg men of the PECC.

The PECC and its affiliate subunits are expected to put their fingers on the pulse of the economy and drive it back to robustness on an immediate, mid-term and long- term basis. Coming very close to the first anniversary of the regime, Tinubu aims to bring all hands on deck.

Evidence has shown that bringing people on board is beneficial. Former President Olusegun Obasanjo, after constituting a sound economic management team, also partnered with “Corporate Nigeria” in reigniting our economy towards emerging as the largest in Africa. Also, Buhari’s partnership with the owners and captains of industry in tackling the COVID-19 pandemic contributed a lot towards our successful containment of the worldwide scourge.

We expect members of the PECC, which include state governors, ministers, industrialists and economic eggheads, to bring their knowledge, insights, contacts and patriotic zeal to help the president succeed. Nigerians have gone through a lot in the past nine years, a situation that got worse when Tinubu took harsh decisions he deemed necessary to revive the economy.

The number one task before this presidential council is to end the hunger pandemic ravaging the land and foster sustainable food security. Agriculture should be handled as more than an emergency; it must be raised to the level of a state religion to which all Nigerians must belong. Secondly, the much-touted need to diversify the foreign exchange base of the country must be treated as a priority.

Nigeria must return to full productivity. This will drastically reduce the level of insecurity, particularly terrorism and banditry. The inclusion of feudal capitalists in the PECC should not lead to further monopolisation impulses. The president must put his foot down and encourage competition and inclusion.

Unlike in the Obasanjo experiment, the PECC should not partition the economy among its members and create further impetus for corruption, unrest, agitations and insecurity. Furthermore, Tinubu should look further afield and bring in equally strong pillars of the economy and fix them in the working committees.

The impression must not be given that only the usual shop-worn private sector lords are good enough to partner with presidents.

We must create a comprehensively inclusive economy.