Ex-British Diplomat Says Nigeria on Right Path with Ongoing Economic Reforms

•Urges Tinubu to fight corruption

Emmanuel Addeh in Abuja

Former Director, British Council, Abuja, David Roberts, yesterday gave thumbs up for Nigeria’s current economic reforms, stressing that if properly implemented, the future looks bright for the country.

Speaking with THISDAY yesterday, Roberts said that though he was aware of the general rise in cost of living and recent protests across the country, there has to be some balance at some point.

In a country where there’s massive infrastructure deficit, including bad hospitals, schools and others, the leadership, Roberts emphasised, has got to make very conscious decisions about ‘what’s got to give’.

Although Nigeria is rich in fuel, Roberts argued that it doesn’t make sense that it remains perpetually underdeveloped.

He pointed out that if Nigeria wants investment into the country, it must have strong regulatory environment and the economy must be well managed.

He added: “I lived and worked in Nigeria for many years as a British diplomat, and one of the issues that most disturbed me was the sustenance of the fuel subsidy regime.

“Why would a country with a severe infrastructural deficit invest more money on a wasteful expenditure such as cheap petrol, instead of building schools, hospitals, dams and a national railway system? It is evident that it had to go. We joined the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in saying as much to the Nigerian government.

“And at long last, it is gone. And everything we said that would happen after it goes is happening. Nigeria’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is growing at 3.46 per cent, while Europe is on the edge of recession. Her stock market just crossed 100,000 basis points, overtaking Argentina’s as the world’s most profitable stock market. And capital importation is up by 66 per cent.”

According to the former British diplomat, the cherry on the cake is that fuel importation into Nigeria is now down 50 per cent.

This, he said, means that Nigeria’s much-depleted federation account will rapidly be resuscitated, more funds will trickle down to the federating states from the federal government, and if well utilised, Nigeria could attain her pre-2015 growth levels.

“The future looks bright for Nigeria if her government can stay the course and resist the pressure to reverse the fuel subsidy removal and the flotation of the Naira.

“Nigeria’s economy is not a mess. There is nothing messy about 3.46 per cent growth. If attaining such growth was easy, then we would have that level of GDP development in Europe. But we don’t,” he added.

However , he noted that Nigeria must fight sleaze in government and improve its general regulatory framework.

“If Nigeria can fix this, I do not see how the country will not benefit from a high influx of foreign capital. Money is attracted to domiciles with good policies and sound regulations.

“Right now, Nigeria has the policy. All it needs is to take steps to build confidence in its capacity to regulate and renew efforts to identify and stamp out corrupt practices,” he argued.

According to him, President Bola Tinubu must quickly take measures to tackle corruption, reducing it considerably, but admitted that no country can stamp out the menace 100 per cent.

“No country has ever done that. But it’s about actually identifying where there are corrupt practices and taking measures to try and stamp them out,” he stressed.

He stated that Tinubu needs to start building confidence in the public and that people must see that the government is well run and that the government is providing infrastructure and security for them.

“There have to be roads, schools, and people must feel safe and they must feel looked after. Politicians always talk and their messages always get across the news. But there has to be evidence that they are doing things, and that it’s not just talk, but that there’s action, “ he added.