The Glorious Dawn Arrives After the Night
Friends and Countrymen: Our economics is something I’d want to discuss with you. If we are going to overcome the severe economic issues that this country has had for a very long time, it is crucial that you comprehend the rationale for the policy steps I have taken.
I won’t make things more complicated by getting bogged down in economic terms. So that you understand exactly where I stand, I will use straightforward language. Most importantly, I want you to understand my goals for a stronger, more prosperous economy in our great nation, so that you may join me in working toward them.
I’ve been saying for years that we need to get rid of the gas tax subsidies. The time has come when this once-helpful step was no longer necessary. We lose trillions of Naira every year due to the subsidy. Spending that kind of money on public transportation, healthcare, schools, affordable housing, and national defense would have been far more beneficial.
Instead, it was going into the coffers of a few and the opulent bank accounts of a few more.
These people had gained so much wealth and influence that they posed a direct danger to the stability of our economy and our system of representative government. To put it bluntly, so long as such small, strong, and unelected groups maintain immense influence over our political economy and the institutions that govern it, Nigeria will never become the society it was supposed to be.
The desires of the few have no business dictating the future of the many. To be a true democracy, we must put people over the influence of money.
This was a concern shared by the previous administration. In fact, the 2023 budget did not include any money for subsidies beyond June of this year. It was time to get rid of the once-useful tool that had become a millstone around the country’s neck.
Furthermore, the created multiple exchange rate system turned into a highway for currency speculators. Money that could have been used to employ more people and construct more enterprises and factories was instead wasted. A select few were given preferential treatment and become fabulously rich by redistributing our country’s resources. Even more unfair than that was this.
It also exacerbated the danger that the illegal and widespread accumulation of wealth poses to the continuation of our economic and democratic system.
By addressing the key imbalances that have afflicted our economy, I committed to implement reforms that will benefit the economy in the long run. The fight hinged on getting rid of the subsidies and the favored exchange rate system. The outcome of this battle will determine the course of our country. There is a lot riding on this.
Thus, a tiny few, the elite of the elite, benefited greatly from the flaws in our economy. Those who profit from the economy’s defects will, of course, resist our efforts to correct them at any cost.
You are feeling the effects of our economy’s current downturn. Fuel prices have increased. The cost of groceries and other necessities has increased as a result. Households and companies are having a hard time. Uncertainty and worry permeate the atmosphere.
I sympathize with your predicament. I really hope that more options exist. However, there is none. If there were, I would have taken it; I didn’t come here to harm the people and country I love so much that I wouldn’t do anything for them.
What I can do right now is to ease the stress that the nation’s economic crisis has placed on everyone, especially companies, the working class, and the most vulnerable members of society.
The federal government is already coordinating closely with state and municipal governments to ease the suffering of Americans of all income levels.
In keeping with my campaign vow to address the hostile fiscal policies and various levies that are suffocating the economic environment, I signed four (4) Executive Orders earlier this month. The industrial sector will have the breathing room it needs to continue to thrive and expand thanks to the Executive Orders suspending and delaying the start of various taxes.
Between July 2023 and March 2024, we will invest N75 billion into the manufacturing sector so that it may grow and produce more high-paying employment. Our goal is to provide seed money to 75 innovative businesses with the potential to hasten structural transformation and boost productivity, thereby fostering sustained economic growth.
Each of the seventy-five manufacturing businesses would have access to N1 billion in financing at 9% per year, repayable over a maximum of sixty months for long-term loans and twelve months for working capital.
Our government appreciates the value of both the formal and informal sectors as growth generators. With N125 billion, we intend to inject new life into this crucial industry.
N50 billion of this total will be used from now until March 2024 to provide a Conditional Grant for one million nano enterprises. Our goal is to provide N50,000 to 1,300 nanobusiness owners across all 774 Nigerian local governments.
Beneficiaries will be brought into the formal banking system, furthering financial inclusion. We would also invest N75 billion into 100,000 micro, small, and medium enterprises and new businesses.
Each business owner who participates in the program will be offered a loan of between N500,000 and N1,000,000 with an interest rate of 9% per year and a repayment term of 36 months.
We have conducted a multi-stakeholder engagement with various farmer’s associations and operators along the agricultural value chain to further ensure that food prices remain low.
We will make sure that basic meals are readily available and inexpensive in the near future. For this reason, I have directed the distribution of 200,000 metric tons of cereals from the FCT’s strategic stockpiles to individual homes across the 36 states. Farmers that support our food security initiative will also receive 225,000 metric tons of fertilizer, seedlings, and other inputs.
Our strategy to encourage the use of 500,000 acres of farmland and year-round farming is proceeding as planned. The National Assembly allocated N500 billion, of which N200 billion will be allocated as follows.
-Our government will spend N50 billion on farming 150,000 acres of rice and maize.
-N50 billion will be set aside to grow wheat on 100,000 acres and cassava on 50,000 acres.
With the help of large-scale private sector companies in the agribusiness with a proven track record, a comprehensive agricultural program aimed at small-holder farmers will be put into action.
To this end, we will draw on the knowledge of DFIs, commercial banks, and microfinance institutions to craft a transaction structure that works for everyone involved.
Friends in Nigeria, I’ve promised to do my best for you. The only thing that keeps me awake at night is thinking about ways to increase your well-being and standard of living.
This is why I gave my blessing to the States’ Infrastructure Support Fund. With the help of this new fund, states will be able to invest in crucial areas, bringing relief to numerous trouble spots and modernizing our aging healthcare and educational infrastructure.
The money will also be used to enhance rural access roads, making it simpler to transport agricultural goods to urban centers. By increasing their competitiveness and financial stability with this fund, our states will be better able to bring economic prosperity to the people of Nigeria.
Our plan includes providing state and municipal governments with bus fleets for mass transit at a considerably reduced cost. In order to acquire 3000 units of 20-seater CNG-fueled buses, we have budgeted N100 billion to be spent between now and March 2024.
The major transportation corporations across the states will split the cost of these buses based on the number of people that travel in each. Companies in the transportation industry that opt in to this program will have access to a revolving line of credit with a 9% APR and a 60-month repayment term.
The same holds true for our efforts to establish a new national minimum wage for workers, which we are doing in tandem with the Labour unions. I have some good news to share with our staff: a raise in pay is on the way.
Budget adjustments will be made to allow for prompt implementation of the new minimum wage and general upward review once we reach an agreement on these matters.
Several companies in the Organized Private Sector have already undertaken a general compensation review, and I’d want to use this opportunity to applaud them.
There is little doubt that this time is trying for all of us in Nigeria. But I urge you all to aim for the bigger vision and ignore the short-term discomfort you’re experiencing right now. We’re hard at work on all of the excellent and useful things we’ve planned. Moreover, I am certain in their efficacy.
Unfortunately, these initiatives could not go live immediately after the subsidies were eliminated. But the chasm in time is being rapidly closed. Please trust in us because we care about you and because we have the ability to see this through.
The storm will eventually pass. And because of the steps we’ve done, Nigeria will be better prepared to seize the future that lies ahead.
We have avoided wasting over a trillion Naira on the inefficient gasoline subsidy that only benefited smugglers and fraudsters in just over two months. You and your loved ones will now reap the benefits of that money much more quickly and efficiently.
For instance, we’ll follow through on our pledge to lower tuition costs for everyone and help those in need afford college. No student in Nigeria will ever have to choose between food and schooling again.
Our goal is to maximize happiness for the largest possible number of citizens. We will always hold firm to this idea.
We are also keeping an eye on how gas prices react to changes in the currency rate and inflation. When and if it becomes essential, we will step in.
I want all my fellow citizens to know that we are emerging from the shadows and heading towards the light.
In order to make this dream a reality, I must now return to my work.
God bless the Federal Republic of Nigeria and thank you all for listening!
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