Tinubu was sworn in as president of the Federal Republic of Nigeria on Monday, May 29.
In his inaugural speech, he promised to detail critical aspects of his programme in the next few days.
Higher growth in the gross domestic product (GDP) stimulating the economy without triggering inflation, promoting domestic manufacturing, lessening import dependency, creating jobs and agriculture hubs, phasing out the petrol subsidy regime and improving electricity transmission and distribution are some of the issues the new president raised.
Speaking on these issues, some experts and stakeholders across different economic sectors identified areas they believe the Tinubu administration should concentrate on in its first 100 days.
Financial sector
While speaking on the matter, a lecturer in the Department of Finance, University of Lagos, Abu Noruwa, noted that the president has said he would bring the interest rate down.
“It’s a welcome development because it will allow many individuals and small and medium scale enterprises to access funds from deposit money banks to stimulate the economy. It will also create more jobs.
“Second, this will create more funds/money for the banks,” Noruwa explained.
According to the executive vice chairman of Highcap Securities Limited, David Adonri, major issues confronting the financial sector include multiple exchange rates, foreign exchange scarcity and trapped foreign investor’s funds, naira scarcity, excessive public borrowing and debt burden, excessive tax on investment and inactivity of the equities primary market.
“These challenges continue to inflict pains on the productive economy and erode investors’ confidence.
“Many of the issues were partially addressed in President Tinubu’s inaugural speech; it’s hoped that he will follow words with action,” Adonri said.
An Economics lecturer at the University of Lagos, Babatope Ogunniyi, said unfavourable exchange rates and subsidies are two significant issues that could negatively affect the economy.
The distortion of the exchange market, he urged, should be narrowed to a single window.
The distortion of the exchange market, he urged, should be narrowed to a single window.
He also called on the president to remove petroleum subsidy because of the corruption embedded in it.
He however urged the government to roll out interstate transportation system in order to cushion the impact of subsidy removal.
Aviation
Any policy that would arrest the ever-rising exchange rate within the first 100 days of the administration would have impact on the aviation sector and the entire economy, an aviation consultant and ex-financial secretary of the National Union of Air Transport Employees (NUATE), Fatai Afolabi, said.
According to Afolabi, the president must appoint an expert and industry man as minister of aviation who will chart an obvious policy path for the Tinubu administration and clear up fast the confused state in which Hadi Sirika, the outgone minister left the industry.
He said, “They must take a quick inventory of the infrastructures on which fortunes have been spent. The state of those infrastructures must be ascertained and adequate maintenance plans put in place.”
The former NUATE executive explained that a minister who is an industry man would know the issues on the ground and how to resolve them efficiently.
The issue of funds repatriation by foreign airlines must be tackled within the first 100 days as this will lead to a drastic control of the rising cost of airfares witnessed since this year, Afolabi noted.
“A policy that will arrest the ever-rising exchange rate within the first 100 days of the administration will impact not only the aviation sector but the entire economy,” he added.
He likewise suggested that Tinubu should look into the restiveness of the aviation unions, which he said must be resolved via genuine dialogue.
The president of the National Cotton Association of Nigeria and Co-ordinator Cotton, Textile and Garment (CTG) Development Forum, Anibe Achimugu urged President Tinubu to treat the textile sector with the importance he had mentioned in his manifesto.
Achimugu said achievements of Tinubu’s first 100 days should include establishing a CTG development unit/office driven by private sector-industry players but under the office of the president.
This sector, he said, is vital for the growth and prosperity of Nigeria due to its vast value chain that would primarily create jobs and wealth for millions of Nigerians as it would spur an industrial revolution.
“This unit/office will allow for the holistic revamping of the sector to be achieved synergistically, addressing critical areas of concern and challenges such as smuggling, low and inconsistent cotton cultivation, inadequate power and other infrastructure.
“Other areas it would tackle include insufficient enforcement of Executive Order 003, inadequate support for research and development, lack of long-term, well-structured, and rightly priced financing, and lack of an industry-led and developed roadmap.
“The above concerns and challenges are critical to the revamping of the sector as they are key success factors and they speak for themselves,” he maintained.
He added that the other areas of sustainable cultivation of cotton, market access, tackling of smuggling and some others are paramount to the revamping of the CTG sector of Nigeria,” Achimugu added.
Agriculture
In the face of scarcity of resources as well as a plethora of problems confronting Nigeria’s agriculture, some critical bottlenecks were noted by Ikechi Agbugba, a former United Nations consultant to the Food Crop Production Transfer Station, Ubiaja, and National Horticulture Research Institute (NIHORT) Ibadan.
He said, “There is no regulation of the agricultural sector, no access to land for agricultural purposes, no effective agrarian insurance policy, not enough agricultural machinery to be used by farmers, no financial partners/investors in the agricultural sector, and a lack of quality seeds and livestock”, Agbugba highlighted.
He also suggested the need for the president to appoint an agriculturist as minister.
Agbugba, who is also a senior lecturer at the Department of Agriculture and Applied Economics, Rivers State University, Port Harcourt, wanted the new administration to open up rural roads to enhance farmers’ access to the markets and more agricultural lands as the National Agricultural Land Development Authority (NALDA) was doing during the General Ibrahim Babangida regime.
He explained that access to mechanisation through provisions of simple hand-held machines for transplanting, harvesting, threshing and winnowing reduces drudgery and post-harvest losses.
Agbugba wants the president to direct all state governors to revitalise their agricultural development programmes.
He also called on the president to stop the importation of food products (food crops, livestock and fishery products) that we can produce and follow that up by encouraging smallholder farmers in scaling up or by increasing their capacity.
“Government should encourage the creation of agricultural hubs across the country, encourage value addition to agricultural produce and encourage processing and faster and seamless access to inputs to aid improved productivity. Fertilisers, in particular, should be depoliticised and freely operated in the market.
“Perhaps, a reduced exchange rate regime might improve access to mechanisation due to higher equipment cost,” Agbugba added.
Therefore as President Tinubu gets down to work in earnest, stakeholders are concerned about how his administration could within the next 100 days start addressing, and visibly too, the seemingly overwhelming economic challenges confronting Nigeria.
ICIR
