It is recorded in the Holy Book that for every man there is time and season, the time to sow and the time to reap, the time to scatter and the time to gather, the time to safe and the time to spend, the time to put on the thinking cap, reason critically on current trends and plot the future he wants, and the time to live one day at a time.
For those who have dutifully and diligently adhere to the season and time, it is time to sit back and sail blissfully to the coast. For those who have lived one day at a time and flagrantly disregard times and its signals, the dawn comes with its storm, raging and roiling flood.
For Nigeria, IMPACT NEWS is distressed that the days of reckoning are here and the dawn is imminent in the horizon. Yet we are unprepared and caught pants down.
Today, the turn of events at the global stage is delicate and to say the least, unpredictable. The pandemic crisis of coronavirus is taking its toll on global economy, sports, entertainment and social and religious events. Flights are cancelled and more may be cancelled, borders are shut. International trade is crippled as countries across the world wriggle beneath the heat of this global health challenge.
As if this is not enough, Nigeria may have to battle a different economic crisis fueled by the diplomatic row between Russia and Saudi Arabia over crude oil production. As at 11th March 2020, major OPEC members have upped crude oil production in an already saturated market caused by coronavirus pandemic. As it stands, the $60 per barrel oil benchmark for the 2020 budget is not feasible. Nigeria may face yet another economic crisis.
For us as a country, the chicken has finally come home to roost. Our challenge is double edged. We have in our hand the health challenge of the coronavirus and its socioeconomic effect. Worst still, the looming economic crisis hangs like the sword of Damocles over us.
Our major challenge is neither the deadly coronavirus nor the trade clash between Russia and Saudi Arabia, ours is the challenge of doing the right thing at the right time. Since the discovery of oil in commercial quantity in Nigeria and the boom, we have experienced several economic downturns that pointed to the single solution that diversification of our economy is the solution. Severally we have paid lips service. Instead we flourished in corrupt practices, oil bunkering, aggressive importation of goods and services at the detriment of our local industries, and we have collectively sabotaged the economy. As a country we spend more than we earn and borrow more than can be paid back in centuries.
At this critical stage, we advise that Nigerians should neither panic nor despair, but we should brace up for the looming challenge, shy away from trading blames and demand that the right thing is done by the government to revamp our economy.
Enough of cosmetic approach to this recurring problem, Nigerians must challenge the government to put in place measures that would aggressively and consistently diversify our economy from oil to other areas like agriculture, industry and services.
We advised that the government must ensure that policies are formulated and enforced with strict implementation. Our borders must remain closed. The Federal Government should extend the closure to air and sea borders. Whatever we cannot produce should not be consumed in the next ten years.
