By: Bumblebee

This a thought provoking piece on the economy.
“There’s a big gap between the government and people, North and South; Import and Export.
The economy plan for $1=N1 is only possible if the current hitchhike is ditch for a new balanced
policy based on inclusiveness and consistency.”

In the age of the social media, one common trend is to block things or people that try to disturb and perturb our online space with seemingly annoying posit. What is surreal is direct application to our daily lives. If every relationship or transaction is built around ban and blocks, what would lie at the end of the summit? In the light of today’s trend, government policies need to be correctly analysed.

The Government

In Nigeria, the federal government or its institutions dictate the way and manner companies and organizations go about their business across all sectors. But judging by their appetite lately, it is not hard to tell that the government is capitalist or destructive. According to the most recent data by Statista on how easy it is to do business in companies, Nigeria is ranked 131st out of 190 countries. While it remains to be seen as to why every emergent sector has been met with repressive policy, from the statistics, one of the problems affecting businesses in Nigeria is the trading across borders and registration of new companies. There’s a big gap between the government and people, north and south; import and export. The economy plan for $1=N1 is only possible if the current hitchhike is ditched for a new balanced policy, based on inclusiveness and consistency.

The government can be said to be bullish and inconsistent in its policies, judging by the recent monetary policy. Here is a list of recent bans that have been in place in Nigeria: firstly, there was a ban on rice and some other 40 products (majorly agricultural product), along with the closure of the national borders which was purposeless and not well premeditated. The ban on cryptocurrency trading (in a country that is ranked the second-largest market) and most recently, the ban on Bureau de Change operators and fintech startups involved in forex trading. Freezing accounts of popular investment platforms such as Bamboo, Chaka, and Trove. From this standpoint, it seems as those at the corridors of power are without a new trick, asides from banning businesses, in the hope of revamping the economy.

The Nation
The nation Nigeria has been faced with different agitators seeking to break apart due to one too many grievances. While some have become apathetic to the plight of nation-building, some others have become sympathetic. One key component still binding us together is trading and investment of individuals in different parts of the country. Who are the individuals? Is that not what makes up the people and the people the government, how can the people then still what to stay apart and yet is still a part of the present day government? The problem is therefore with people in the position of regulating the business environment.

The Balance of Payment

The need for diversification and promoting Made in Nigeria goods has always been emphasized and rehearsed. However, why reality is far from that dream, is down to the policy and way our economy is still structured. The way government itself goes about its business causes an imbalance. It is not every piece of advice the IMF or World Bank proffers, that should be applied to the economy as all policies are not based on how good they are; but on how they are implemented. We need to do more than just a textbook approach if we want to experience a paradigm shift. More so, the problem on our part of the import-export equation is that we don’t export as much as we should. This is obvious as we don’t have the capacity to produce major commodity goods, giving room for importation. Now when there is a clear problem of balance of trade like this, the direction to move is how major in what we best produce and not ban vibrant