Momoh Umar Momoh, Benin
An economist, Dr Ayo Teriba has called for the holistic privatization of the power sector, rail and gas saying that infrastructure was too important to be left to the government alone.
Dr. Teriba, Chief Executive Officer of Economic Associates, made the call at the maiden public lecture of the Faculty of Social and Management Sciences of Benson Idahosa University (BIU), Benin City, Edo State.
He advocated for the replication of the telecom sector’s privatization success in power, rail, and gas, also calling for long-term planning and infrastructure investment.
While calling for the placing of the Ministry of Budget and National Planning at the centre, he opined that without a functioning plan, fiscal and monetary policies are rudderless.
He also highlighted inefficiencies in agricultural distribution, adding that 60 per cent of crops were lost post-harvest due to poor transport and storage systems.
According to him, agriculture is not failing; the support systems around it are.
In his keynote address, Prof. Mustapha Sagagi, a seasoned economist and Non-Executive Director at Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), blamed systemic corruption, weak policy implementation, and fiscal recklessness for Nigeria’s ballooning debt and rising poverty.
The lecture was themed “Rethinking Nigeria’s Economic Management Policies and the Way Forward.”
Sagagi, posited that macroeconomic policies, no matter how well-crafted, often faltered due to poor coordination among top decision-makers.
Prof. Sagagi, who highlighted the damaging effects of past unbridled borrowing and money printing, stated that over N30 trillion was printed in seven years without corresponding economic output.
“Nigeria does not have a shortage of economists, engineers, or accountants. What we lack is a leadership and institutional system that allows good ideas to translate into action,” he said.
Prof. Sagagi, a lecturer at the Dangote Business School, Bayero University, Kano, however, acknowledged recent gains, including inflation moderation, rising reserves, and improved forex transparency.
He attributed the CBN’s tightening stance and unified exchange rate system as stabilising forces.
He said the country needed strategic reforms, citizen accountability and evidence-based leadership to revive the ailing economy.
“If not for monetary tightening, the naira could have crashed to N3,000 per dollar. That would have been catastrophic.
“More needed to be done to translate macroeconomic reforms into better livelihoods”,he stated.
On his part, Dr Sam Amadi, a Harvard-trained governance expert, reinforced Sagagi’s points but emphasised institutional capacity and infrastructure planning.
Amadi, however, lamented the chronic failure to address productivity, inequality, and multidimensional poverty.
“Development isn’t just about growth. It’s about enhancing people’s freedoms and capabilities.
“Nigeria keeps changing governments, but policies remain unimplemented or ill-conceived. We need infrastructure that matters such as feeder roads, power, education—not flyovers built for political optics,” added.
Earlier in his opening remark, Prof. John Okhuoya, Vice-Chancellor of BIU, opined that universities had a duty to drive policy engagement and development solutions.
Okhuoya, who said Nigerians must move from analysis to action, added that the university is committed to being a hub for solution-driven conversations like this.
In his address, Prof. Mike Asekome, Chairman of the Local Organising Committee, said the experts were carefully selected to share their expertise and experience in reviewing, rethinking and proffering solutions to the present economic trajectory
