That Yar’ Adua’s economic team

Abimbola Agboluaje

Last week, President Umaru  Yar Adua inaugurated a presidential steering committee to help respond to the global economic crisis. The president was said to have observed that the committee was set up to evolve and drive the framework for our proactive response to the challenges posed by the ongoing global economic crisis on our national economy in a holistic and coordinated manner.

Following this announcement, I immediately changed my mind on the issue to write about this week because I think I should discuss some salient issues regarding this committee and the general pattern that is again beginning to emerge from the president’s office. Indeed, I had suggested last week in my article that I have strong reservations to the effect that the president can deliver. My conclusion is based on the pattern of hesitancy and indecisiveness of his presidency in the first 18 months, and even if he decides to change, the challenges of the present economic crisis will not allow him.

Because of the calibre of Nigerians on this team, it is very easy to dismiss any criticism of it. These are very successful individuals, whether in government or in the private sector. But the premise for the setting up of this team was wrong, is wrong and will turn out to be wrong. Why should the president bother to set up a committee of this nature that will meet, perhaps every week for now and discuss a wide range of issues? Reports have indicated that they will discuss agriculture, infrastructure, oil price, naira stabilisation, petrol price, tariff, taxes, customs, investments etc. This is simply incredible!

There are many holes in this arrangement. First, look at the roll call of individuals on the committee. We have state governors that include Babatunde Fashola of Lagos, Adams Oshiomhole of Edo, Isa Yuguda of Bauchi and Bukola Saraki of Kwara. There are ministers that include the national planning minister, Shamsudeen Usman; the Central Bank governor, Charles Soludo; minister of petroleum, Rilwan Lukman, and the new minister of finance, Mansur Mukthar. Others are: the economic adviser to the president, Tanimu Kurfi; chairman of the Nigerian Economic Summit Group (NESG), Sam Ohuabunwa and Lagos-based economist, Bismark Rewane.

For all the ministers, there is no problem being part of such an arrangement. After all it is their job to provide responses to the global economic crisis. But for others, providing responses to the global economic crisis as it affects Nigeria and Nigerians is not a part-time job. Whatever contributions other members will make could be achieved simply through phone calls.

Let’s take the case of Babatunde Fashola as an example; this governor is just too consumed with Eko o ni baje and now, to imagine he has to think of tariffs. Tony Elumelu, in his case, is far too engrossed with how UBA will become even a more global bank and is perhaps trying to arrest increase in bad loans as a result of the ravaging global crisis. The question therefore is how will he find time to meet up with the demands from Abuja? Aliko Dangote is running his vast business empire, yet has to think of ways to contribute to the Abuja demands. And for Adams Oshiomhole, new governor in Edo, who is still in the middle of putting together his cabinet and settling down properly for work, he will either have to justify the president’s confidence in him or aim at clearing the rot that is the state.

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If those outside the Federal Government on the committee are honest with themselves, they will readily admit that this is grossly unnecessary. There is nothing wrong in people of such status, because of their experience and clout, advising the president, and rightly so. Barack Obama has such an arrangement. But, forgive me, for being cynical. Perhaps I’m still at a loss over what exact purpose these men in a presidential steering committee of this nature are expected to effectively play.

And there is the other aspect of the president’s statement about being proactive. I have since checked the dictionary, and honestly, it does not look like what is happening! There is no sense in being proactive when oil price is struggling just above $30. It was all but certain that the US will go into recession this time last year. And if we excuse that the implications of that was missing in the midst of rising price of oil, I warned in the third week of January last year that oil prices would decline, especially following a recession in the US. But even after that, a lot of sharing has still been ongoing since March 2008.

Truth is, President Yar’ Adua is fast becoming an expert in the world of make believe and you can see this more through the inauguration of his committees. Since the start of his presidency, he has managed to constitute committees on power, oil and gas, infrastructure and the Niger Delta. On the economy alone, the president has the steering committee on Vision 2020, committee on global crisis, and there is also the economic management team. After all these meetings, the question remains, when is the thinking done and the actions carried out? Some of these arrangements have merits, but the generality of it suggests the inclination for wide consultations in place of genuine progress. By and large, successive governments must move away from committees’ and allow those that have been appointed to do the jobs they were appointed to do. It ensures a clear sense of responsibility and focus. The opposite is a pattern of hesitancy and indecisiveness.

For less ambiguity sake, the president’s core economic team should be the ministers of finance, both substantive and state, his chief economic adviser, and the director of budget. As president, he should have access to any other advice he may need from time-to-time, including from those in this committee. However, a phone call or note will suffice.