IT is quite unfortunate that as Nigeria turned 56 last Saturday, its fortunes had so dipped that no respite could be proposed for its ailing economy other than the sale, or stripping, of its assets. The economic management team headed by Vice President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, proposed this “akotileta” antidote to the nation’s jarring economic malaise to the chagrin of many Nigerians.
The option has, expectedly been shot down by many people, even though there are those who still consider it the best way to get quick funds to bridge the deficit in the 2016 budget and boost the economy, that is now officially classified as being in recession.
What are the details of this proposed sale? The Federal Government is said to be considering the sale of certain percentages of its stakes in the lucrative Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas (NLNG), the refineries, the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) and some public buildings such as the wasting former Federal Secretariat in Ikoyi, Lagos, and the National Theatre in Iganmu, Lagos.  The Central Bank Governor, Godwin Emefiele, billionaire businessman, Aliko Dangote, Senate President, Dr. Bukola Saraki, and Budget and National Planning Minister, Udo Udoma, have all been in the vanguard for the sale of national assets. Emefiele had, last year, called on the government to sell some of its stakes in its various joint venture (JV) agreements with some international oil companies. The Minister of State for Aviation, Mr. Hadi Sirika, had also mentioned a plan to concession the nation’s 22 airports as a way of raising funds to boost the Gross Domestic Product (GDP), since the country was finding it difficult to upgrade and maintain the airports in line with the required international standards.
Although the Federal Government has since, through the Information Minister, Mr. Lai Mohammed, denied the planned sale of public assets and only described it as a proposal from the economic team, it is quite clear that such plan was in the offing and is only now being reconsidered following the outcry from many Nigerians. Even the Senate, which had earlier kicked against the plan is now said to be welcoming of a plan to concession some assets for a number of years.
The sale of national assets cannot be a long-term solution to the economic recession in the country. The NLNG that the country is reportedly considering selling is a cash cow which Nigeria can only sell to its peril. With the crash in the price of crude oil in the international market, the NLNG has been a lifeline to the country, contributing huge sums to the effort to stabilize Nigeria’s gasping economy. The Federal government holds a 49 per cent stake in the company and it was this company that paid dividends of 2.1 billion dollars to the federal government in the early days of the Buhari administration, when the new government was still trying to find its feet.  It was this money that the federal government used to bail out the states that     were, at that time, owing their workers huge sums in salary arrears. The company, in its statement for 2016, said it had since inception paid $65 billion in dividends, taxes and gas purchase levies to its shareholders, including government at different levels, which collected up to 61 per cent of the sum.It will definitely not be in the best interest of the government to sell such a critical money-yielding asset for any reason. This is more so as the sale of such assets will see them going into the hands of unscrupulous government officials and their cronies for only a fraction of what they are truly worth, at the detriment of the whole of the country. Even then, as we have had it with most sales of public assets in the past, the assets had been thereafter badly managed and eventually went moribund
Moreover, the sale of public assets is not a sustainable way of getting the economy out of recession. The question is, when these assets are sold off, and the recession is yet to abate, what does the country do? Sell off more assets? Nigeria cannot afford to continue to sell off its assets to remain afloat. Whatever option would be left for it after the sale of the assets under consideration should be pursued now, while the assets are left to continue to generate funds for future generations of Nigerians. This is more so because of the rapacious greed of our public servants who will naturally think more of how to feather their own nests in the sales, instead of protecting the interest of the country.
Beyond the sale of public assets, the country’s managers should worry more about the fundamental problems assailing the national economy. Key, among these, is the nation’s over-dependence on crude oil sales as source of national revenue. The time has come to truly diversify the economy. Agriculture, solid mineral development and manufacturing should be given pride of place. Farming should be mechanized and small and medium enterprises which employ the bulk of the people should be empowered with better skills and soft loans. The power sector is critical to the industrial development of the country and everything that is required should be done to put it back on its foot.
Luckily, the price of crude oil appears to be inching up in the international market. It now stands  at  50 dollars a barrel, while the 2016 budget was based on $38 dollars benchmark. Beyond the improved outlook on oil prices, the government must also do more to resolve the militants’ problem in the Niger Delta states which is reportedly causing the nation to lose 800,000 barrels of crude oil daily. The strong-arm tactic of the Buhari presidency on the triple problem of insurgency in the North-East, agitation for Biafra in the South-East and the bombing of oil pipelines and other oil infrastructure by militants in the Niger Delta can only prolong the resolution of the critical challenges facing the nation.
As Nigeria turned 56 last Saturday, the time has come for the Buhari government to perish any thought on sale of public assets and find an amicable resolution to all the problems enumerated above. That is the only way to restore lasting peace to the North-East of the   country, get the abducted Chibok schoolgirls back, restore the faith of disgruntled Eastern Nigerians in Nigeria and save the nation’s oil industry, and ultimately, the economy, from collapse.

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