Tough days ahead: What Buhari can do to cushion it

Two weeks ago, a journalist asked Andrew Cuomo, the vigorous and dynamic governor of New York, on what he plans to do on the economy after the coronavirus pandemic days are over, to which he said that he was not thinking about the economy yet. He said all he was thinking on at the time I am x-raying was how to save lives and that later, he would start think on the economy.

Right now, the government of Donald Trump is working on the biggest economic stimulus package in the history of America (according to CNN) to cushion the economic-impact of the ongoing virus that is ravaging the United States of America on businesses in their country. If they do not do this, many companies will go under and millions of people will lose their jobs. According to CNN, about a million people have lost their jobs already in America!
A few days ago, Buhari constituted a committee and gave Professor Yemi Osinbajo the mandate of spearheading it. In Nigeria, when a government does not want to do something about an issue, all it would do will be to set up a committee. On the condition that you are in doubt about what I am touching on here, where are the results of all the committees that have been set up by this administration and all the administrations before this one?

I doubt if Nigeria will end up coming up with any true economic stimulus package for budding entrepreneurs—those who are truly building Nigeria. Just like they are playing politics with the ongoing distribution of money and other relief materials, they are going to play politics with whatever they come up with in the days to come. Every aspect of our national life is not working as it should, because we play politics with it. A few hours ago, the Chadian soldiers took the battle to the ‘Bokoharam bastards,’ killing more than a hundred of them, freeing our soldiers! Our soldiers used to be the most disciplined ones in West Africa, but today, the fad has changed and it is so sad.

A few days ago, I saw a video of our soldiers, hailing the Chadian Army as they were taking the battle to where ‘Bokoharam bastards’ were, a feat we haven’t been able to achieve in many years. Since the war started, we have only been repelling their attacks, keeping the show of ignominy on, while we consistently squander and throw away money and waste precious lives.

Away from ‘Bokoharam bastards’ and our soldiers, what will happen a few weeks after the end of coronavirus is seen will be much more than we are seeing right now. People’s financial statuses are going to change of almost overnight. Many millionaires and billionaires will be left with almost nothing! The government of Buhari truly needs to start putting its house in order, planning to truthfully bailout a lot of budding businesses in Nigeria. I am not talking about businesses owned by their fellow politicians!

If baba’s administration does not truly rise to bail people out of the economic quagmire they have found themselves, many companies will lay-off many employees in the days come, in order for them to survive. If this eventually happens, we are going to have more than enough crisis on our hands that we can handle as a nation. To start with, I strongly recommend that VAT and taxes be suspended for the next six (6) months!

How about Okada, tricycle and taxi riders and drivers who got them on hire-purchase arrangement and have agreed to be paying back on weekly basis? And on the condition that they dare default for a week, those who gave out bikes, tricycles and cars to them will get them back from them. I hope the committee that Osinbajo spearheads is thinking along this line.

There are many emerging entrepreneurs whose businesses are going to go under as an effect of loans. The first thing most of them will do when coronavirus pandemic is over will be to reduce their overhead running cost, laying our people off in their millions. What is the committee setup by Buhari, led by Prof Yemi Osinbajo going to do to save businesses in this category and those earning their living in those companies?

Lastly, our film makers will need to be busy now writing life changing story-lines that will prevent people from committing suicide just as Dracula that was released in 1931 ended up preventing and saving (as an effect of economic crisis) a lot of people from committing suicide after the Second World War came to an end. I am not talking about thoughtless and wishy-washy films here. The government of Buhari needs to partner with our film makers. Also, in the days to come, we are going to need both motivational and inspirational speakers to constantly encourage our people, so they do not throw in the sponge.

Also, we are going to need a lot of comedians and musicians to make our people think-productively, laugh and dance while the economic scourge lasts in the days to come. What am I trying to say? In the days to come, to survive as a people, all hands will need to be on desk. Ultimately, this is no time for Baba and his team to sleep on the job.