As the world prepares to usher in the New Year, stakeholders across major sectors in Nigeria, including manufacturing academia, security, local government unions, and the Ijaw National Congress, have called on President Bola Tinubu to ensure a better economy in 2025.
They noted that 2024 had been “tough” and “difficult,” but expressed optimism that the coming year would make life better for Nigerians.
Reflecting on the underperformance of the manufacturing sector in 2024, the Director-General of the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria, Segun Ajayi-Kadir, in an interview with Sunday PUNCH, noted that major changes are needed to stimulate growth.
According to him, the key to these changes is the full implementation of fiscal policy and tax reforms, which he hopes the National Assembly will pass in the coming year.
He also emphasised the need for the Central Bank of Nigeria to stabilise interest rates and redeem the N2.4bn forex forwards owed to manufacturers.
Ajayi-Kadir said, “We also look forward to the expansion of the credit facility of the government. The N75bn that has been disbursed is a start, but we are looking forward to the N1tn promised in the stabilisation plan, which should help cushion the impact of access to credit.”
He urged the government to adopt measures to tackle inflation, particularly by addressing logistics costs, and to ensure better synergy between fiscal and monetary policies to promote sustainable growth.
Additionally, the President of the Academic Staff Union of Universities, Prof. Emmanuel Osodeke, urged the Federal Government to prioritise the creation of a conducive educational environment in 2025.
According to him, young Nigerians must have access to quality education, free from the burden of loans that are increasingly affecting students in universities.
He stated that while previous generations of leaders enjoyed free education and bursaries, current students are burdened by financial encumbrances.
“We should not close TETFUND, which supports tertiary education, and turn it into a loan scheme. They should cut down on their so-called high cost of governance and expenditures. Travelling abroad six times a year should be stopped.”
The Secretary-General of the Association of Local Governments of Nigeria, Mohammed Abubakar, urged the president to ensure the commencement of local government autonomy in 2025.
“We continue to thank Mr President for approving financial autonomy for local government. The implementation has to commence as soon as possible so that people at the grassroots will continue to feel the impact of the government. When there is money at the grassroots level, the hardship that people are talking about will reduce,” he said.
Also, the National President, Nigeria Union of Local Government Employees, Akeem Ambali, said the only way Nigeria can experience true development is when Tinubu’s administration begins the implementation of local government autonomy in 2025.
“The long-awaited local government autonomy should be actualised in 2025, and crediting local government accounts should be implemented without further delay,” he stated.
On his part, security consultant and Chief Executive Officer of Beacon Consulting, Dr Kabir Adamu, called on the President to ensure the security of lives and property of Nigerians, as stated in Section 14, Subsection 2 of the Constitution.
Meanwhile, the National Publicity Secretary, Ezonebi Oyakemeagbegha, painted a bleak picture of Nigeria’s economy in 2024, describing it as a difficult year for Nigerians who had made many sacrifices.
“2024 was a tough year for Nigerians. Nigerians made a lot of sacrifices. It can be said to be a very bad year in terms of the economy,” he stated.
Oyakemeagbegha called on President Tinubu to address the high cost of fuel, urging a reduction in the pump price of petrol to “N416 per litre.”
“We have the crude and the raw materials here; we don’t see any reason for petrol to be this costly. We heard that the people doing bunkering get the crude and sell it at low rates,” he said.
Oyakemeagbegha also addressed the ongoing challenges with the naira’s exchange rate, stressing the need for the currency to be strengthened to compete favourably with the dollar.
He noted that a more stable power supply would benefit small businesses, enabling them to thrive without constant disruptions.
“The international oil companies should move their headquarters to the locations where they are getting their raw materials,” he added.
