Some people have been so enraged with the recommendation of the National Economic Council(NEC) and some members of the senate on reigniting the economy through the sale of some assets, you would think the assets have already been sold. No such thing has happened but those who conceived it seem to have come to their last bus stop for solutions.  The National Economic Council is led by the Vice President and they have been at it for over one year.  The council may have ran out of solutions and have resorted to what they see as the quickest fix to the the economic crisis. The naira is on a free fall against major currencies in the world, especially the dollar. Manufacturers have watched their cost hit the roof as a direct result of high cost of imported raw materials. Prices have generally soared as the spiral effect of sky-high cost of sourcing dollars. The general rule  should be for the people to bridle their consumption pattern which,  over the years, has given preference to imported items, now putting pressure on dollars. The thinking in some quarters, as expressed by Africa’s richest man, Aliko Dangote, is that funds are desperately needed in the nations reserves, to help reduce they pressure on our currency. The economic team now proposes that we get the funds via sell of assets. Governors have endorsed the move, saying it a step in the right direction given the tendency for the proceeds to be deployed in shoring up reserves and thus stop the free fall of the naira. There has been a national outrage over the proposal such that the senate has voted against the move. Former Central Bank Governor, Professor Chukwuma Soludo has described the move as dangerous policy myopia. In an article he  wrote on the matter he noted that ‘ No amount of reserves can stop currency speculation in a poor policy environment. There is much more to confidence than absolute or relative size of reserves…If we sell assets and lodge into the reserves under the current policy framework, I am willing to take a bet that in a few months’ time, it will be frittered away and we will be in even a bigger mess as economic agents know that we have nothing else to resort to’
Soludo believes that the authorities wasted a year hedging the naira. At the end we resorted to ‘flexible exchange rate’ and still combined it with a black list of 41 items ineligible for forex as well as other crude controls, and the consequent huge parallel market, one of the largest in the world . He says the relief of such sales would be temporary.
The assets for sale have not been put on the table but the  National Liquified Natural Gas (NLNG) has been touted as topping the list of outfits to be but out for sale. The outfit, which is not wholly owned by Nigeria, is viable and returns huge profits to the nation. The proposal is that Nigeria’s shares in the place be sold. Some have said there are moribund assets that ought to be disposed. I do not see any investor staking huge sums to wake up dead outfits in a cash- strapped environment where purchasing power has nose dived. Those who have the money would prefer to buy cash cows like the NLNG and assets that would make quick returns. We have also heard that government would include a ‘buy back’ clause in the event of any sale.  If the buyer refuses to sell it will only elicit endless litigation. The buyer could also put the asking price at a ridiculously high rate.
The challenge is for the authorities to shun this quick fix of selling assets because it would leave the nation bare.
The Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) and other labour unions say they would resist any such move, but they cannot do more than street march and strikes. The buck still lies with the president. There are also speculations that some of those who put the idea in the front burner do so with the selfish intention to benefit from the process. My concern is that from all indices, this proposal is like a temporary elixir, a quick fix that only scratches the surface of the wound and does nothing to the wound.
Those at the helm of affairs must think of other ways out. The proposal offers temporary respite. Those who have economic barometers say the situation would be deeper in future.  We had better take the bitter pill now that this temporary relief that leaves the economy in deeper mess.

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