An Open Letter to President Muhammad Buhari on the State of the Nigerian Economy By Yemi Michael
The Sunday Platform With Yemi Michael
The Sunday Platform With Yemi Michael
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Dear President Muhammad Buhari,
I hope this Message meets You well, Sir. My Name is Yemi Michael. I am a Writer and the Publisher of The Yemi Michael Journal, Yemimichaeljournal.substack.com, a News Website, the medium through which I wrote to You. I am not pleased to write to You, Sir, because I am experiencing the bad effects of governance. I walk with the aid of Crutches due to Polio. The fact that I live with Physical Disability makes me feel the terrible effect of the economy.
A handful of Nigerians are coping well while the majority are seriously suffering, contending with hardships amid government Propaganda. The economy is in a terrible state. The hardship is worse than that of the period before 2015 when You assumed office, Sir.
Everywhere I went to: Market, Filling Station, Campuses and other places, it was lamentations, regrets by People who voted for You, Sir. Those who voted and those who did not vote for You are feeling the pains. There is so much hardship and discontent in Nigeria. This explains why I decided to give voice to national issues and offer suggestions.
Photo: President Muhammad Buhari, Nigeria’s President.
Mr. President, I voted for You in 2015 because of Professor Yemi Osinbajo, an accomplished Intellectual, your military training, experience in governance and track record of integrity.
Photo: Professor Yemi Osinbajo (SAN), Nigeria’s Vice President.
The above factors made me to think that You will lift Nigeria’s economy that was in the doldrums. Unfortunately, the economy became worse. That explains why I decided not to vote for You in 2019. I was disappointed when it took about Six Months to constitute your Cabinet, Sir. Some of the appointments were not merit-based. That explains their lackluster performances.
When Preparation meets opportunity, there will be success. I am not sure they were prepared for the roles. Becoming the Number One Citizen is a position that you have coveted for over 10 Years. So, one expect that you would be really prepared given how long you have wanted to rule Nigeria. Apart from your long-time ambition to rule, you have been in Government as Military Head of State, Military Governor and Government Official in charge of the Petroleum Sector. And so, you should have considerable experience, your Excellency.
People felt You probably needed more time and voted for You the second time. The Second time brought so much hardships.
I will look at national issues/matters in no particular order. The national grid has collapsed many times. People now generate their electricity. Poverty rate is so high. The Number of Nigerians living in extreme poverty was put at 83,005,482 out of Nigeria’s population of 214,598,240 by World Poverty Clock by World Data Lab as at 3.58 pm., 17 April 2022. This information is available on worldpoverty.io.
Everytime I went out, I saw several elderly people who begged for money to eat, countless adults struggling to make ends meet, Graduates of many Years still depending on their Parents/Guardians and loved ones to survive. It was the financial support of my loved ones that has helped me to survive because I couldn't get a decent job after I graduated from University despite graduating with a good Degree (Second-Class Upper Honors-2.1). I had to quit my last job due to poor pay and maltreatment.
Going out and seeing many poor people while Government Officials enjoyed affluence made me feel so terrible. The frequent increase in the price of fuel has pushed prices of things up and by implication increased cost of living. This has also caused more hardships.
Mr. President, are You really concerned about our wellbeing? Nigerians are really suffering! The word out there is that You are not bothered, Sir. I felt so disappointed because we really trust You for a better life. Many People are also disappointed, Sir.
Closely connected to the above is an astronomical unemployment rate. TheCable.ng (an Online Newspaper) put the unemployment level at 33%. Now, Graduates, many of whom are qualified and willing to work could not find good jobs and there is no financial support for them to start businesses.
Many non-formally educated people particularly artisans could not survive because of bad and irregular power supply. Many industries could not operate well due to this. The lack of engagement of our citizens was a wind we sowed.
The high level of poverty partly caused by unemployment and its attendant insecurity was/is the whirlwind we are reaping. Chief Obafemi Awolowo, late Sage and Visionary said and I quote: “The Children of the Poor You failed to train will never let your children have peace.” Now, government is now contending with problems caused by children of the poor and other people they did not cater for.
One major factor that have exacerbates poverty is lack of electricity. I have lost count of the number of times the national grid has collapsed. We don’t even have a month of regular electricity supply let alone one week’s supply. There was a time during the administration of former President Goodluck Jonathan when we had good supply of electricity. Thanks to Professor Bart Nnaji, the-then Minister of Power. He was unceremoniously removed from office. Nigeria needs that Man.
Mr. President, just how many are we? I asked because there is no exact population figures. I think the figures provided by worldpoverty.io will help You in planning. If we do not know who need/will need what and when, how then can we plan effectively, Sir?
I grew up reading about National Development Plans. It has been ‘consigned’ to the past.
Education Sector is in a shambles. Ditto the health sector. I spent about Six Years for a Four-Year Programme in School due to disruption in academic calendar. I was so relieved when I graduated. Mr. President, the attention paid to education is grossly inadequate. This is why we do not have employable graduates. No nation develops considerably without reasonable human resources.
Why is it difficult to provide world-class health facilities in Nigeria, Sir? Why do You and other government officials go for medical treatment abroad when we have the resources to build globally-recognized health facilities?
It is about time Nigeria encouraged/promoted and used Made-in-Nigeria Products. Why can’t we use/encourage Nigerian-made Vehicles such as Innoson Vehicles, Aba Products and other goods and services of Nigerian origin.
Are You aware, Sir, that Nigerians are moving in droves abroad because of hardship/inconducive situations in Nigeria? Nairametrics, sometime ago, reported that “50% of Nigerians are willing to move abroad” while Premium Times reported that “7 out of 10 Nigerians said they will relocate abroad if they have the opportunity.” Sadly, the issue of brain drain has not been decisively addressed.
Through sheer grit and creativity/ingenuity, Ngerians are doing well in the area of Science and Technology/ICT-Information Communication Technology. Nigerians are the Owners/Founders/the brains behind top technology companies such as: Paystack, Flutterwave, Interswitch, Dataflex, Mainone, Zinox Computer, Omatek, eTranzact and several others. A successful tech company called Calendly is owned by Tope Awotona, a Nigerian based in the U.S.
Through hardwork, mental and physical exertions, Nigerians have done quite well. Everytime I visit Computer Village, Ikeja, Lagos, I saw Nigerians who are tech-savvy doing great things. A good number of these people are also in Abeokuta, Ibadan, Abuja and several places in the country. Many of them are on Twitter running small and big businesses. Why is it difficult to leverage this and come up with something good through the Ministry of Science and Technology?
This brings me to the unnecessary Twitter ban which lasted for about Seven Months. Mr. President, whoever that advised You did a dissservice to You because the ban end up stifling the businesses of people who use twitter to promote their businesses. And these are millions of people that Government has failed to/could/did not help.
The Directive for SIM-NIN (Subscriber Identification Module-National Identity Number) Linkage has been given long ago. Government extended it more than Eight times. Even though it was a good initiative that was long overdue, most Nigerians did not heed the directive because they did not trust government. It just simply showed that they have lost interest in governance.
People do not trust government because there is so much propaganda, government officials live in comfort while majority of their people live in abject poverty. They struggle to make ends meet with the paltry minimum wage of N30,000. Pensioners struggled to even collect the pittance government pays them while government officials collect millions of Naira as salaries.
I have a dear Relation, a Primary School Teacher who retired at 60 in Year 2,000. He is still alive living in terrible condition. He collects N16,000 as Pension Package. He does not even get the measly money regularly. I always feel terrible whenever I visit him. I have heard the stories of Thousands of People like him who died while in the queues.
Many People who are in need of financial support do not get it. It is not a good thing to watch people who entrust You with their welfare to live and die in penury, Sir. It is the lack of interest in people’s wellbeing that made them to disregard whatever policies their so-called government have for them. They always feel what meanningful impact does governance have on their lives. After all, they have been coping without government.
Your Excellency, the NSIP-National Social Investment Programme that consists of N-Power, Home Grown School Feeding Programme, Conditional Cash Transfer and GEEP-Government Enterprise and Empowerment Programme is a great idea. Unfortunately, it was not genuinely and evenly/properly done. The implementation was abysmal. Government already has our information. All that just needed to be done is for government to know the country's population and use it to provide financial and material support to those in need-The Elderly or Senior Citizens, People Living with Disabilities, The Unemployed, Orphans and others. It is something that can be seamlessly put in place or done. We read about and heard of how much social support citizens of other countries get. You and other government officials travel a lot. Why is it difficult to replicate that here, Sir?
Mr. President, what exactly is the National Orientation Agency doing about our degenerating values, Sir? I asked because there are increasing vices such as money rituals and other crimes of different forms/proportions. We are now in a situation where abnormalities have become normal-Young Children and Adults do not believe in integrity/dignity of labour, again.
They now want big money the fast way-life on the fast lane. Many of them do not even want to go to school, again. Some of them that attend higher institutions do so just to have certificates because they see many graduates, good and half-baked ones struggle financially after school. Why is it difficult to make available good jobs and conducive environment for our graduates and non-graduates to thrive, Sir?
I am aware of the Establishment of the NYSC-National Youths Service Corps Trust Fund. The Fund makes provisions for Graduates to be gainfully engaged. I really commend You, Sir, for this.
We had expected that You would reshuffle or reconstitute your Cabinet, Sir, for better performance. You just did not, despite public outcry. I strongly believe that You can and should still do that. Who knows?, a new set of government officials may just help You to improve governance. Apart from your cabinet, all other institutions of government should be reconstituted.
The Aim of writing You Sir is to constructively engage You i.e. complain about things that were not done well and offer suggestions as to how they can be addressed. If You are mindful about good legacy, you should do something considerable.
Here are some recommendations, Sir.
Fix electricity. Once you do this, it will help improve a lot of things. Crime will reduce because people will have electricity to work and live well. Economic Activities will generally get better.
Provide Jobs and opportunities for people to go self-employed. I know You cannot provide all the jobs. But, a good number of job seekers can reasonably be absorbed if government is serious and sincere. The truth is that if government can expend more time, energy and money to better people’s lives, less money, time and energy will be spent on insecurity.
Fund Education, Sports and Health Sectors. Please, have workable and comprehensive plans for these sectors and let the plans be religiously implemented. Even if You cannot finish the implementation before the end of your administration, posterity will still be good to You Sir.
Science and Technology can engender good development. We live in an age where virtually everything is tech-driven or digitalized/digitized. Please, let the Minister of Science and Technology get tech-savvy people who can come up with innovations.
Address, decisively, the maladies in the transportation sector. We are very tired of making do with old facilities when advanced countries have very modern facilities. Overhaul the sector, Sir.
Provide a genuine and practicable Social Welfare/Security Policy that will be well-implemented to reduce Poverty.
Allowing the troubling rate of poverty to increase is like sitting on a keg of gunpowder. The implosion in form of insecurity is already here.
The good thing is the escalation of the implosion can be prevented.
I know there are a myriad of problems besetting Nigeria. They can be overwhelming. One good thing about solving a problem is that once it is addressed, it helps solve other issues.
For instance if You were able to solve electricity problem, there will be jobs and other work opportunities ditto other problems.
Diversify the Economy.
There are many things we can invest in. Such things include: Tourism, Agriculture, ICT/Technology, Solid Minerals and some others.
Doing so will reduce our dependence on oil.
On a final note, I know the remaining time that You have in office is short. A little over a year, actually. In spite of the short period, I still very much believe you can do something reasonable.
If You are mindful of your legacy, Sir, You will resolve and strive to improve things. I hope You will find the courage, determination to improve things.
I hope to write to You a week or two to the end of your tenure to appraise the situation.
I hope things will be better, by then. I hope You will make time to read this Letter, Sir.
Most respectfully,
Oluyemi Arolusola Michael
(Yemi Michael)