2017: On your marks…set…

It is exactly eight days to 2017. A lot has happened this year and so many of us are eager to get to the 90th minute of this saddening match that we have played in, watched, cheered or booed in the last 12 months. Sadly, there isn’t any extra time in this match; no added four minutes or free kicks to give any team a chance to better their scores.

In one move that did take us all by surprise, as if we had not seen and heard enough already in Nigerian politics, the 2016 budget went missing and came back a few billions weightier than it was delivered to the House of Assembly. The case is still pending in court even as 2016 slowly grinds to a halt.

To the joy and relief albeit partly of many Nigerians, October 13th 2016, has been scored in the hearts of many as a day we never thought would come. 21 out of the over 200 Chibok school girls who had been in captivity for over two years, were released after undisclosed negotiations with the FG. Reports are that talks are still on going to release the remaining girls who have been camped with the initial 21, not indoctrinated into the dangerous sect or married off to their captors.

The naira depreciated the most in its 56 year history. Dollar shortages compounded by and fuelled by the stark contrast between the interbank and the black market rates has hampered manufacturing processes, slowed down imports and fuelled lay-offs in major organisations that are finding the environment too adverse to operate in. A couple have since closed shop in the country and moved on to other business friendly environments to pursue newer markets.

We lost icons – Stephen Keshi, literary icon Elechi Amadi, singer OJB Jezreel and a lot more.

The insurgency in the north claimed the lives of Col. Abu and other military heroes who were fighting for the freedom and safety of our country.

The countless lives of civilians lost, hostages still held and hundreds of thousands displaced from their homes, herdsmen rustling in various parts of the country, oil infrastructure vandalisation by disgruntled sects in the Niger-Delta have only heightened the sense of insecurity in the country.

In July 2016, Finance Minister, Kemi Adeosun announced that the economy was in a recession as the GDP had experienced two successive negative contractions and this has been the state of our economy till date.

Following the recession and cash crunch, host of ponzi and marketing schemes swept through the country with MMM leading the way.

With the freezing of the Ponzi scheme, MMM, that plunged a lot of its Nigerian participants into panic mode, 2017 is going to be a year of financial survival of the fittest both for individuals and organizations.

According to President Buhari, 2017 is the year to “do more with less”.

Nigerians are in the coming year, eager to find multiple ways to augment current incomes or create newer streams of income to survive these tough times.

Jennifer Abah, a Customer Service personnel with Jumia Nigeria in a chat with BusinessDay says she is interested in saving more and creating multiple streams of income for herself in the new year. She says that regardless of the economic recession, it is safe to know you have backup plan asides from a paid job to fall back on in the event of any change in status quo.

“I want to gradually work towards building a life around more creative and entrepreneurial things so that one day I can become my own boss”, she says. Speaking on the country and Buhari’s administration, she iterated that the power sector and foreign exchange rates have to be looked into critically. As a trader, alongside her regular job, she says she has to overprice her products sometimes just to make some profit owing to the current rates at which she imports them.

Yejide Elugbaju, a professional makeup artist, who graduated with a first degree in Accounting while speaking with BusinessDay, says 2017 is the year to get a Masters Degree. With the current exorbitant exchange rates in the country, Elugbaju turns to the University of Lagos as her school of choice for an MSc degree contrary to the mass export of students to foreign countries in search of stronger portfolios and greener pastures. She hopes to study a course in Finance as part of her plans to maximise her profits in the coming year from her makeup business.

“I want to go into my business fully by March. I don’t want to work for anyone again. If I ever have to, it has to be something that gives me time”, says Irene Ezima a Customer Relationship Officer at the Aquagem Dental Clinic. Both the President, Muhammadu Buhari and Minister of Information, Lai Mohammed have come out to assure Nigerians that the recession will ebb come 2017.

However, analyst expect a tougher year ahead. The respite of the economy come 2017 is multifaceted and the decisions the government takes henceforth as it relates to them will go a long way in deciding how the new year pans out. We can only be sure of one thing: by this time next year, we will be able to say of a certainty if 2017 was a tough one or not.
KOSISO UGWUEDE