Written by Abbas Jimoh
ActionAid Nigeria (AAN) notes that recent statements by Indermit Gill, Senior Vice President and Chief Economist of the World Bank, on social and economic reforms at the 30th Nigeria Economic Summit (NES30) in Abuja are contradictory. He said it was fatal.
AAN Country Director Andrew Mamedu said this in a statement personally signed in Abuja on Tuesday this week.
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According to a report in the Daily Trust, Mr Gill urged President Bola Tinubu to urge his administration to maintain the ongoing reforms despite the hardships on Nigerians and to ensure that Nigeria stands in the spotlight in sub-Saharan Africa and on the world stage. He said it would take the next 10 to 15 years for the country to establish itself as a leading economic power. .
However, Mamedu said the World Bank president’s comments urging the Nigerian government to maintain current economic reforms for the next 10 to 15 years without a clear plan on how to respond to its people are misguided and harsh. He said it was an insult to millions of Nigerians living through the situation. Unprecedented economic hardship.
“We call on governments to reconsider their blind allegiance to the World Bank’s economic plans and start prioritizing the welfare of their people. Governments reject the idea that growth must come at the cost of human lives. And we must start making meaningful investments in local industries, small businesses and sustainable economic models that empower rather than enslave Nigerians.
“While this call assumes that the continuation and persistence of these policies will have transformative results, the evidence suggests otherwise. Long-term reforms are important, but the World Bank “The strategy appears divorced from Nigeria’s pressing socio-economic realities, particularly with regard to poverty, weak institutional capacity and structural economic deficiencies,” he said.
The AAN chief said the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) have been deeply involved in Nigeria’s economy for decades, pushing policies that have done far more harm than good.
He said the Structural Adjustment Program (SAP), introduced in the late 1980s, remained a challenge in this relationship, as it crippled the country’s local industries, particularly the textile sector, and opened the floodgates for Nigeria to become heavily dependent on imported goods. He said it was one of the most devastating legacies. .
Mamedu said: “Prior to the establishment of SAP, Nigeria’s textile industry was a vibrant hub employing hundreds of thousands of workers. However, IMF-led policies reduced subsidies, liberalized imports and Due to the forced currency devaluation, Nigeria was forced to shut down its own production capacity.”
He said the sudden removal of fuel subsidies without a robust compensation mechanism would further erode household incomes, and that other reforms would disproportionately affect Nigeria’s poorest people and that global financial institutions and foreign investors would While reaping the benefits of an open economy, it is pushing the country deeper into poverty.
“Asking Nigerians to endure another 15 years of suffering in the name of historically failed reforms is not only unacceptable but inhumane. They can barely afford food, fuel and basic services. Asking them to wait more than a decade for “things to improve” is an insult to their dignity and a reckless gamble on the country’s future. .
“The question is: how many Nigerians will be able to benefit from these reforms by then, what will the future hold for the children currently bearing the brunt of the hardships, and will there still be hope for them in 15 years? “Time?” “
