Protests will threaten Nigeria’s fragile economy, says CPPE

The Centre for the Promotion of Private Enterprise (CPPE) says nationwide protests threaten Nigeria’s fragile economy.

On Sunday, Muda Yusuf, CPPE’s chief executive officer (CEO), said the protests could inflict an estimated daily loss of N400 billion, if not properly managed.

Recent reports indicate a nationwide protest would commence on August 1 over Nigeria’s soaring cost of living and economic hardship.

Yusuf said the consequences of such a huge loss for the country and the citizens would be very severe.

He said there is also a significant risk of shutdowns and disruptions across key economic sectors, including trade and commerce, manufacturing, entertainment, transportation, logistics, financial services, hospitality, agriculture, aviation, information and communications technology (ICT), and construction.

Also, the CEO warned of threat to lives and properties of innocent citizens and corporate entities, as well as the safety of government assets.

Speaking further, Yusuf commended the inspector general of police for acknowledging the rights of the citizens to protest and offering to protect the genuine protesters. 

He urged the organisers of the protests to cooperate with the police to make the planned protests peaceful and orderly.

“It is in the overall interest of all for this to happen. Peacefulness of a protest does not detract from the potency of its messaging,” Yusuf said.

“The protest organisers should not offer a platform for elements in the country who have criminal intents and whose agenda is to inflict pains on innocent citizens and corporate organizations and destruction of public assets.

“We cannot fix a problem by promoting such negative tendencies.”

He recommended that the protests be short, ideally lasting no more than one day.

“Experience has shown that the chances of protests degenerating into chaos and anarchy increases with the duration of the protests,” he said.

“Prolonged protests create opportunities for hoodlums, miscreants and other criminal elements in the society to build momentum to unleash mayhem and destruction on the country.

“Over 90% of employed Nigerians are in the informal sector. Employees in this space are dependent on daily income and any disruption to their economic activities beyond 24 hours could snowball into a major social unrest. This underlines the country’s vulnerability to prolonged protests.”

‘SWIFTLY IMPLEMENT ECONOMIC STABILISATION PLAN’

Yusuf also advised the government to swiftly implement its economic stabilisation plan to ease production costs and ultimately reduce inflationary pressures.

According to the economist, trade costs are still prohibitive and need to be drastically reduced across board in a manner that would not undermine domestic production.  

He said high cargo clearing costs are a significant factor driving inflation and need to be addressed urgently.

Yusuf added that revenue generation should be managed in a way that does not add extra burdens on citizens and businesses.

The CEO also emphasised the urgent need to prioritise fiscal frugality and transparency in the public sector at all levels of government.

Yusuf said appropriate signalling and messaging that reflect current economic conditions are essential to earn the confidence of the general public.