The Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) on Monday charged the President Bola Tinubu-led administration on prevailing economic challenges in the country and specifically to provide more detailed plans and strategies to tackle inflation, under-employment, insecurity, and social inequality in the country.
The leading organized private sector (OPS) group, in its statement on the “President’s 2024 New Year Address to the Nation,” signed by its Director General, Dr. Chinyere Almona, clearly pointed out that despite the good intention of the government, investment in agriculture had a low chance of success in in the country in the face on lingering security and other problems.
The LCCI, therefore, urged the administration to provide more detailed plans and strategies to tackle current challenges of surging inflation rate, under-employment, security, and social inequality.
It maintained that a transparent and inclusive approach to governance would contribute to building public confidence and achieving sustainable economic growth in the country.
While noting that the focus on cultivating farmlands to grow staple crops and boost food security aligned with the need to ensure constant food supply, security, and affordability for citizens, the Chamber recommends “that the government consider fast-tracking the movement of the police from the exclusive list to the concurrent list to be legislated upon by the federal and state governments. This will guarantee effective policing of the nooks and crannies of the society, particularly the farmlands.”
The LCCI believed that though the removal of the fuel subsidy was desirable for the country, there was the urgent need for the administration to address the negative impact of the fiscal measure on individuals, families, and businesses.
The Director-General stated: “The potential ripple effects on the cost of living and inflation must be closely monitored. Acknowledging the challenges of high inflation (above 28 per cent) and an unacceptable under-employment rate is crucial. However, specific strategies to address these issues were not mentioned, leaving room for concerns about the impact on citizens.
“The commitment to building a fair and equitable society and addressing inequality is commendable. However, specific policy measures to close the widening wealth gap are unclear. Despite the setting parameters for the evaluation of ministers and heads of agencies mentioned, there is a need for transparency in these evaluations to ensure accountability and performance improvement”, Almona added.
She disclosed that the OPS group had carefully reviewed the president’s speech and commended him for the commitment by the administration to addressing critical challenges that were negatively impacting the economic landscape, including his commitment to power projects and efforts to enhance the reliability of transmission lines.
But then, the Chamber noted that “there is an urgent need to address the structure of the power sector. The government needs to consider bringing private sector investment into the transmission segment of the power sector. This would ensure adequate technical and financial capacity for a well-functioning sector to power economic growth.”
