Nigeria’s former education minister, Oby Ezekwesili, has described the economic policies adopted by President Muhammadu Buhari as “archaic,” reports Premium Times.
The coordinator of the #BringBackOurGirls group said Buhari is merely replicating the same economic policies he employed while as military head of state in the 1980s.
“During the first coming of this our new president, a command and control economic system was adopted. During that era, inflation spiralled. During that era, jobs were lost. During that era, the economic growth level dipped.
Ezekwesili said it is unwise to continue to experiment with the same policies which failed about two decades ago. “That era wasn’t the best of eras in economic progress. What did not work in 1984 cannot possibly be a solution in a global economy that’s much more integrated.
“In over one year, the president is still holding to the premise that command and control is the only way out. In a year we have lost the single digits inflation status we maintained in past administrations.”
“The president comes into this economic philosophy on the premise that he does not want the poor to suffer. I can relate to that, a leader must, especially a leader who knows that most of his votes came not from the elite but from the poor.
“The problem though is that the intention and the outcome are diverged. The weakest and the most vulnerable suffer the impact of inflation the most. Enormous power is being abused as a result of opaque economic policies.
“Companies are suddenly finding themselves unable to produce because they’re unable to access foreign exchange.”
