A former president of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Olisa Agbakoba has said major turnarounds in Nigeria’s economy could be attributed to the milestone recorded in the private sector.
Agbakoba, on Friday, in a long tweet on X said Aliko Dangote’s refinery with a production value of 650,000 barrels per day and Allen Onyema’s Air Peace which has now commenced Lagos to London flight have significantly eased the pressure on the economy.
“It is notable that the turning points now witnessed in the economy, is the work of just two persons (Dangote and Onyema). Imagine what 10, 20 or 50 private sector individuals can do,” he said.
Agbakoba noted that Nigeria’s economy has witnessed a turbulent period especially with the hurriedly taken reforms by the federal government.
The lawyer stressed that the sharp removal of the fuel subsidy and the unification of the exchange rate, removing the pegs from the US dollar and making the naira to float, have since put the economy under pressure.
The petrol subsidy removal has seen the price of premium motor spirit surged by 157 percent in one year according to the National Bureau of Statistics in February. It has also led to the increase of fares, making life difficult for the citizens.
The liberalisation of the exchange rate regime has equally seen the naira peak to about N1,900/$ in early February before strengthening to N1,255/$ on Thursday at the official market, showing resilience against the bullish dollar.
All of these culminated in the country’s headline inflation reaching a record high of 31.7 percent in February and purchasing power dwindled.
The condition of the economy has also seen major multinationals exit the country, resulting in massive losses of jobs while pushing poverty to the roof.
By pumping 100 million litres of diesel, the Dangote refinery crashed the price of the diesel from about N1,800 to N1,225 per litre.
As Dangote plans to pump another 100 litres, the price of diesel is expected to drop to a low of about N1,000 per litre.
With the business mogul commencing the production of PMS by May, petrol prices are expected to dip, creating a great relief for the economy as well as the citizens.
In the same vein, Onyema’s Air peace began its Lagos to UK trip to the delight of every Nigerian, a development which has now forced major airlines which have been enjoying monopoly to crash their prices by at least 60 percent.
The senior advocate of Nigeria urged the government to withdraw from business, stating that it should support the private sector in rejuvenating the economy. This, he believes, will make the country witness the quickest recovery by the end of the year.
“This raises the issue of putting the private sector at the center of economic development. Government must withdraw from business. We must move immediately from consumption to production,” Agbakoba said.
“Q4, 2024, may look on the bright side but it is still early days,” he added.
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