"Challenge of Economic Growth in Nigeria”
Kingsley Moghalu
1. Nigeria must establish an economic philosophy from which its economic vision will be derived, and set out a vision that will drive economic policy and management. Such a vision must make clear the respective roles of the state and the market, and its position on capitalism and its various adaptations – entrepreneurial, crony capitalism, state capitalism, and welfare capitalism. The economic ecosystem will operate and be managed within this framework.
2. Economic management should be overhauled. The President should establish a full-time Council of Economic Advisers, headed by a Chairman that will serve as Chief Economic Adviser, that researches and monitors the economy 24/7 and advises the President on actions to take to enhance economic growth. This council, composed of 5 or 6 members, should be Nigeria’s economic team. Ministers holding economic portfolios should not be members of this team; rather they should focus on execution and the achievement of targets set by the President, as advised by the Council of Economic Advisers. The Council’s members should have expertise in the main areas of economic growth ambition or policy such as fiscal policy (in particular taxation reform), industrial policy, trade policy, energy economics, and economic history, economic philosophy and political economy.
3. From 2019, the Federal Government of Nigeria should establish a concrete economic diversification plan with a concr