“As a nation, it is so shameful that we have about 4.5 gigawatts. We must increase our oil production too to 2 million barrels per day within the next few months. Remove all barriers hindering investments into the sector to enhance competitiveness” – President Tinubu in Abuja, July 4, 2024.

Watching Tinubu addressing the Council and the nation on television, I felt deeply sorry for one member – Alhaji Aliko Dangote, Chairman, Dangote Group.

Dangote, every government’s nominee to join an Economic Committee hastily assembled in response to a national economic emergency, once more led the private sector contingent.

He has been the automatic choice since 1999.

He has been forced to sit and listen to every President who ostensibly appoints a Committee or Council when, our recent history has demonstrated that they labour in vain.

In reality, by the time the Council members are selected, the most important decisions to be made have already been settled.

I cannot recall a single occasion when the Council has had any significant influence on vital matters.

Buhari serves to illustrate the point that the eminent individuals drafted to serve as presidential economic advisers, by whatever name they are called, invariably, have wasted their precious time.

And, being extremely wealthy, the sitting allowances paid cannot be regarded as value for money – they would have preferred to be doing something more profitable.

Long before Ministers were appointed, in 2015, Buhari inaugurated the Economic Management Team – headed by Vice President Osinbajo.

In addition to the VP, the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, was also a member, Dangote was also there, as well as Soludo.

Given the utter failure of the economic policies of Buharinomics, none of the members would want to be reminded that they were part of the team.

The disastrous situation in which Nigeria finds itself stems from the fact that Nigerian presidents appoint Councils or Committees to address problems which the Civil Service, supported by experts and consultants, usually can solve.

WHY COMMITTEES DON’T WORK

“A camel is a horse designed by a Committee… a Committee is a collection of the unfit, appointed by the unwilling to perform the unnecessary” – American wisecracks, VANGUARD BOOK OF QUOTATIONS, VBQ, p 30.

President Jonathan probably set the national record for the appointment of Committees.

Every major problem was referred to a Committee; the first Committee’s report was also referred to another Committee to advise government on what to do.

Only God knows how many reports of Committees, appointed by GEJ, are gathering dust in the archives of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, SGF, from that government alone.

Yet, decisions were made regarding those matters.

Among the things we were taught in my MBA course in Boston, 1968-70, is that not specifically making a decision on important matters is also a decision – the decision to do nothing and let things sort themselves out – usually with calamitous results.

Nobody can now possibly know what might have become of Nigeria if Jonathan had sent an Executive Bill to the National Assembly, NASS, after the 2014 Constitutional Review Committee completed its work.

Instead of deciding, he sent it into the tank called another Committee.

 Buhari, in 2019, starting the second term of his administration, set up an Economic Advisory Council, EAC, headed by Dr Salami, but including Soludo (again?), Professor Ojowu, Dangote (again?), CBN Governor (again?), etc, without disclosing to them that his government has already raided the CBN to the tune of several trillion naira through illegal Ways & Means, W&M, borrowing.

Obviously, those appointed were only used as window dressing to deceive the public – while the grandest larceny in Nigerian history was underway.

In an article published in September 2019, on this page, titled: Economic Advisory Council: Rescuers or Undertakers? I predicted, quite accurately, that the members were risking their reputations on Buhari who had demonstrated that he lacked the intellect and self-discipline to accept and implement their proposals and that Nigeria would be worse off by the time Buhari left office.

Who among the members of Buhari’s ECA now want to acknowledge the fact that he was part of that Titanic failure?

NEED FOR A PRESIDENTIAL ADVISER ON ANTECEDENTS

“Those who do not remember the past are condemned to repeat it” – George Santayana, 1863-1952, VBQ p 93.

One of the things that are most astonishing about African leaders, especially Nigerians, is how frequently they repeat the same mistakes made by their predecessors; and sometimes with some of the same cast of characters.

The men for all seasons governments select either are not as good as we think they are; or governments are wasting their talents.

To be quite candid, some of those drafted into Tinubu’s Council should decline the appointment – particularly those who served Buhari.

The reason is very simple.

The Presidents who appoint them seldom wait for their advice before making disastrous mistakes.

Already, Tinubu, apart from continuing his predecessor’s “borrow-and-spend” fiscal policy, has already broken Buhari’s awful records on several fronts.

Those of us who thought that no President could be worse than Jonathan must now admit that we were wrong.