Revisiting Nigeria's Naira Swap and the Swamp
29 July 2023 By Abiodun Kareem Giwa
Godwin Emefiele and Muhammed Buhari
Godwin Emefiele, the immediate past governor of Nigeria's Central responsible for the Naira swap policy, which brought untold hardship, death, and business closures, is struggling for freedom. He was arrested shortly after the power transfer from President Muhammed Buhari to Bola Tinubu. He stayed in detention until he eventually appeared in court for gun and ammunition possession. The fight between the Department of State, DSS, and the Correction Department officials over where to remand Emefiele broke the news in all Nigerian newspapers. But that is not an issue here.
It is about the social and news media's reported allegations against Emefiele. And one would think the government has enough justification to arrest and pursue a case against him, from the crime against humanity arising from the suffering, death, and business losses from the Naira swap policy.
Government's decision to pursue a case of gun and ammunition possession after his prolonged and unconstitutional detention shows the government has no claim to seek from the Naira swap policy. And that the gun and ammunition case is a camouflage to shield those who acted along with Emefiele in the swap.
It shows the government knows how to create a case when it has none. Others must learn from Emefiele's predicament. The Naira swap policy by the Swamp in Abuja was a Federal Government monetary policy. News reports said Emefiele recommended the procedure to Buhari to stop the current president from using his enormous wealth to win the election and the suggestion score a goal.
However, the man they wanted stopped winning the election emerged the winner anyway, and many people believed it was Emefiele's undoing. No one has tried to hold the outgoing president accountable for the Naira swap as if Emefiele had the power to embark on a policy without a nod from Aso Rock. And whether Aso Rock can implement a Naira Swap in such haste without the National Assembly, in disregard of the policy process. Nigerians knew Buhari accepted the swap suggestion from Emefiele after all efforts to stop Tinubu failed at the ruling party's convention. No one has talked about the need for Buhari to join Emefiele in detention. And Buhari ended the oil subsidy again - another travesty against the public policy process.
The Public Policy Process addresses emerging problems that have gained sufficient attention in a Democratic society. Thomas A Birkland says in 'An introduction to Public Policy Process,' "Problem emerges in society through various means, including sudden events such as disasters or through the advocacy activities of concerned citizens and interest groups. If the issue gains sufficient attention, it is said to have reached the agenda. When a matter reaches the agenda stage, it moves to the alternative responses - a solution to public problems." It means decisions to solve a problem through the passage of a bill, enactment of a law, a regulation issued, or some other formal decision.
The process brings all problems before the National Assembly through the knowledge of the people's representatives or the media, and all must pass the criteria of becoming an agenda in the National Assembly's routine based on the level of seriousness and the effects on the public. It ensures the Assembly spends time tackling the most severe issues and makes it rare for the executive to act like an autocrat in decision-making without the people's input. The executive signs or veto the bill from the National Assembly. Therefore, the Naira swap issue targeted to stop only one person from winning an election would have failed if tabled before the National Assembly. The suffering, death, and business losses caused by the swap show the evil in allowing the executive to act autocratically.
Observers who think Tinubu's election got Buhari's approval or that he was rigged into office by his predecessor are mistaken. However, it is Tinubu's error accepting to end the oil subsidy as put in place by his predecessor, a cessation that formed part of the new president's inaugural speech. It was understandable all presidential candidates campaigned to end the subsidy. Tinubu should have accepted the policy put in place by his predecessor only with input from the National Assembly to safeguard his administration from responsibility should the program fail. Newspapers and opinion writers in Nigeria have said much about the danger of ending the subsidy without a rigorous plan.
Tinubu is the new president with the freedom to decide his administration's policies, programs, working with the National Assembly. Why didn't Buhari implement his ending to oil subsidies while in office? Why did he give it to Tinubu? Buhari accepted the Naira swap program from Emefiele and subjected Nigerians to one of the most challenging times of their lives. He again ambushed his successor with a mandate to end and implement the oil subsidy. He succeeded at placing the crime of the Naira swap on Emefiele's head and ending the oil subsidy on Tinubu. Buhari's removal of the oil subsidy program given to Tinubu to implement is nothing but a booby-trap aimed at the new administration's failure from the beginning and to look foolish before Nigerians.
Many Nigerians think the most brutal suffering is from the Naira swap, but the oil subsidy removal has made it a journey from the frying pan into the fire. And the president is struggling with oil subsidy removal, reminding us of the sailor who shot an innocent bird in 'The Rime of The Ancient Mariner,' a poem by Samuel Taylor Coleridge. Tinubu begins the paddling of Nigeria's canoe with a brutal struggle for survival, giving his opponents cause for joy. He requires love, blessing and prayers like the sailor in Coleridge's poem to overcome the alteration from the subsidy removal.
No one had said the oil subsidy should not end but that the government was supposed to have understudied the program alongside the National Assembly. It is undemocratic for a government to decide with far-reaching effects without the people's input. Buhari is in peaceful retirement, but his successor is having a nightmare about managing a package handed to him, unaware of the ensuing repercussions. Reading the news of substantial money saved from the subsidy's termination is alright. But will all the money be transferred immediately to Nigerians to assist?
Tinubu realizes the evil he is dealing with. He has canceled the N8000 earmarked by his predecessor to cushion hardship to some 12 million hard hits by poverty as too meager. He vows to get a better-mitigating factor in place. Many Nigerians have asked for N500,000 for each Nigerian in poverty. But how does the government decide the eligibility of whatever amount arrived at? Shouldn't this be the start of fashioning a social security program for Nigerians and an opportunity for the National Assembly to do its work? And should this not mark the beginning of Nigeria's civil rights movement?
One hopes that whatever decision reached by Tinubu's committee be forwarded to the National Assembly for deliberation and passed into a bill for the president's assent.
It is about the social and news media's reported allegations against Emefiele. And one would think the government has enough justification to arrest and pursue a case against him, from the crime against humanity arising from the suffering, death, and business losses from the Naira swap policy.
Government's decision to pursue a case of gun and ammunition possession after his prolonged and unconstitutional detention shows the government has no claim to seek from the Naira swap policy. And that the gun and ammunition case is a camouflage to shield those who acted along with Emefiele in the swap.
It shows the government knows how to create a case when it has none. Others must learn from Emefiele's predicament. The Naira swap policy by the Swamp in Abuja was a Federal Government monetary policy. News reports said Emefiele recommended the procedure to Buhari to stop the current president from using his enormous wealth to win the election and the suggestion score a goal.
However, the man they wanted stopped winning the election emerged the winner anyway, and many people believed it was Emefiele's undoing. No one has tried to hold the outgoing president accountable for the Naira swap as if Emefiele had the power to embark on a policy without a nod from Aso Rock. And whether Aso Rock can implement a Naira Swap in such haste without the National Assembly, in disregard of the policy process. Nigerians knew Buhari accepted the swap suggestion from Emefiele after all efforts to stop Tinubu failed at the ruling party's convention. No one has talked about the need for Buhari to join Emefiele in detention. And Buhari ended the oil subsidy again - another travesty against the public policy process.
The Public Policy Process addresses emerging problems that have gained sufficient attention in a Democratic society. Thomas A Birkland says in 'An introduction to Public Policy Process,' "Problem emerges in society through various means, including sudden events such as disasters or through the advocacy activities of concerned citizens and interest groups. If the issue gains sufficient attention, it is said to have reached the agenda. When a matter reaches the agenda stage, it moves to the alternative responses - a solution to public problems." It means decisions to solve a problem through the passage of a bill, enactment of a law, a regulation issued, or some other formal decision.
The process brings all problems before the National Assembly through the knowledge of the people's representatives or the media, and all must pass the criteria of becoming an agenda in the National Assembly's routine based on the level of seriousness and the effects on the public. It ensures the Assembly spends time tackling the most severe issues and makes it rare for the executive to act like an autocrat in decision-making without the people's input. The executive signs or veto the bill from the National Assembly. Therefore, the Naira swap issue targeted to stop only one person from winning an election would have failed if tabled before the National Assembly. The suffering, death, and business losses caused by the swap show the evil in allowing the executive to act autocratically.
Observers who think Tinubu's election got Buhari's approval or that he was rigged into office by his predecessor are mistaken. However, it is Tinubu's error accepting to end the oil subsidy as put in place by his predecessor, a cessation that formed part of the new president's inaugural speech. It was understandable all presidential candidates campaigned to end the subsidy. Tinubu should have accepted the policy put in place by his predecessor only with input from the National Assembly to safeguard his administration from responsibility should the program fail. Newspapers and opinion writers in Nigeria have said much about the danger of ending the subsidy without a rigorous plan.
Tinubu is the new president with the freedom to decide his administration's policies, programs, working with the National Assembly. Why didn't Buhari implement his ending to oil subsidies while in office? Why did he give it to Tinubu? Buhari accepted the Naira swap program from Emefiele and subjected Nigerians to one of the most challenging times of their lives. He again ambushed his successor with a mandate to end and implement the oil subsidy. He succeeded at placing the crime of the Naira swap on Emefiele's head and ending the oil subsidy on Tinubu. Buhari's removal of the oil subsidy program given to Tinubu to implement is nothing but a booby-trap aimed at the new administration's failure from the beginning and to look foolish before Nigerians.
Many Nigerians think the most brutal suffering is from the Naira swap, but the oil subsidy removal has made it a journey from the frying pan into the fire. And the president is struggling with oil subsidy removal, reminding us of the sailor who shot an innocent bird in 'The Rime of The Ancient Mariner,' a poem by Samuel Taylor Coleridge. Tinubu begins the paddling of Nigeria's canoe with a brutal struggle for survival, giving his opponents cause for joy. He requires love, blessing and prayers like the sailor in Coleridge's poem to overcome the alteration from the subsidy removal.
No one had said the oil subsidy should not end but that the government was supposed to have understudied the program alongside the National Assembly. It is undemocratic for a government to decide with far-reaching effects without the people's input. Buhari is in peaceful retirement, but his successor is having a nightmare about managing a package handed to him, unaware of the ensuing repercussions. Reading the news of substantial money saved from the subsidy's termination is alright. But will all the money be transferred immediately to Nigerians to assist?
Tinubu realizes the evil he is dealing with. He has canceled the N8000 earmarked by his predecessor to cushion hardship to some 12 million hard hits by poverty as too meager. He vows to get a better-mitigating factor in place. Many Nigerians have asked for N500,000 for each Nigerian in poverty. But how does the government decide the eligibility of whatever amount arrived at? Shouldn't this be the start of fashioning a social security program for Nigerians and an opportunity for the National Assembly to do its work? And should this not mark the beginning of Nigeria's civil rights movement?
One hopes that whatever decision reached by Tinubu's committee be forwarded to the National Assembly for deliberation and passed into a bill for the president's assent.
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