Our imports are reducing, and our exports are increasing. That is a sign that our economy is expanding. For the year-to-date 2024, our imports were ₦24.44 trillion, while our exports stood at ₦38.59 trillion. This gives us an unprecedented trade surplus of over ₦14 trillion in just eight months. It has never happened in Nigeria. Never. This is a refreshing shift from consumption to production.
Ask yourself how we could have gone from a consistent and persistent trade deficit under Buhari to trade surpluses under Tinubu.
The answer is reforms. The removal of fuel subsidies and the floating of the Naira are having their intended effect, which is to make imports more expensive, thus giving Nigerian manufacturers, like Aliko Dangote, Innocent Chukwuma and Razaq Okoya, an incentive to produce more locally manufactured goods.
This will initially bring short-term pains as we adjust from import dependence to self-reliance. However, it will bring long-term permanent gains in that our economy will expand and incomes will rise, resulting in standard of living going up.
The economy that Buhari fostered was unworkable and set Nigeria back decades. In eight years, Nigeria had a budget deficit of ₦36.8 trillion and a trade deficit of over ₦20 trillion.
Things had to change, and I commend President Tinubu for having the courage to change them, despite the cacophony of critics’ voices.
We could not keep printing money and borrowing funds from China and the West. Because of the high cost of imported goods, Nigeria is gradually becoming a prosumer nation. For those who do not know what that means, to be a prosumer is to be a person who consumes what they produce.
Reno Omokri
#TableShaker