CURIOUSER and curiouser. 

That is how I am seeing things as they unfold in the landscape of Nigeria’s political economy. At a time like this, one would desire to see how the famed, late, self-acclaimed motor park economist, Ashikiwe Adione-Egom, would have described the prevailing state of economic affairs.

To refresh memories, the senior professional colleague referred to above practised at the African Guardian magazine, and wrote countless articles published on the op-ed pages of The Guardian newspaper, and often signed himself off as a “motor-park economist”, a moniker which stuck with him both in life and after his passing. He was also founding editor of the Financial Post, a publication financed by Alhaji Abdulaziz Ude.

What commentary would Ashikiwe Adione-Egom have done on the policy reversal regarding access to forex by importers of 41 items previously denied by the Central Bank? There are other things that one cannot make any sense of. First, the administration of Muhammadu Buhari secured a facility of US$800 million from the World Bank, which it purported to use to “cushion the effects” of subsidy removal, which he budgeted for till June 2023.

His successor, Bola Tinubu, in an off-script declaration, announced removal of subsidy on petrol, one month ahead of the budgeted time, an action that immediately threw the economy into a tailspin as prices of almost everything, especially food items, shot through the roofs into the sky, and headed for outer space. While the citizenry is groping about in the dark for ways and means to cope with this self-inflicted trauma, government has, again, begging bowl in hand, gone to lenders for another $1.5bn loan, which it called “Budget Support Fund”. Seems our appetite for getting into debt is insatiable.

By the way, what has happened to the Naira/Yuan Swap policy of the previous CBN regime? That should help, given that much of our trade is now done with China. Or has that baby been thrown out with the bath water?

All of these at a time members of the national legislature are taking delivery of exotic SUVs valued at N160 million each. I don’t know how people in leadership positions can be so insouciant and impervious to the plight of the people they lord it over. So-called palliatives are being distributed to ordinary Nigerians to cushion the effects of subsidy removal; but these palliatives are direct, unabashed insults to the self-worth of each individual Nigerian. I keep asking and I’m not getting answers: How will two tins of rice make up for the effects of N600 per litre petrol on the earning and spending power of the average Nigerian?

The N160 million SUV is an amalgam of various scams. One, it is a moral scam, as explained above. Two, it is also a financial scam as the open market price of such SUVs is just about half the price, barely N80 million. But I am told that the sellers quoted so high because it may take years to get their cheques. Three, it is an unpatriotic scam. If the Federal Government must buy vehicles for our legislators, why not buy vehicles made or assembled in Nigeria? As the Naira exchanges at N1,300 to the British pound, and N1,100 to the US dollar, does it make sense to pack all the Naira here into sacks and use to buy dollars and dash the Japanese? Why not a Nigerian car?

Wikipedia tells us that the president of the United States currently uses a Cadillac built by General Motors. Historically, US presidents also used Lincoln, manufactured by Ford Motor Company and also Chrysler vehicles in the past, representing the Detroit Three of American manufacturers.

Soviet leaders used custom-built limousines made by the ZiL company, and though the Russian presidents switched to the Mercedes-Benz S-Class due to ZiL’s decline after the dissolution of the Soviet Union, Vladimir Putin commissioned a new official state car from the national automotive establishment, which was delivered in early 2018.

In 2018 the Government of South Korea commissioned a highly modified Hyundai Nexo SUV to serve as the official state car of South Korea.

The emperor of Japan uses a Toyota Century, the prime minister of Italy uses a Maserati, the prime minister of Malaysia uses a Proton Perdana, the president of the Czech Republic is driven around in a Škoda Superb, and the British monarch uses a Bentley.

The president of France can choose from cars manufactured by Renault or PSA Peugeot Citroën, while all major German manufacturers (Mercedes-Benz, BMW, and Volkswagen Group) are represented in Germany’s pool of vehicles available for use by state officials.

Only Nigerian state officials and legislators will ignore local brands made/assembled here, like Innoson, Nord, Peugeot and opt for foreign brands. Can’t our leaders see the connection between local production and Naira value in the forex market? Same thing happens with oil. We can’t refine at home, so we import instead. How will we ever get out of this? If we don’t get our politics right, we’ll never get the economy right. Politics drives economy. That’s why we see crazy policies and crazy economic outcomes in our lives. Shior. We deserve better than this!