THE chief executive officer of the Centre for the Promotion Of Private Enterprise (CPPE), Muda Yusuf, said Nigeria could lose N400 billion daily over the planned nationwide protests.
Yusuf gave the estimate in a statement on Sunday, July 28, cautioning against the likely economic impact of the protest.
He said the protests portended grave dangers for an economy that was already in a very fragile state.
“The protests could inflict an estimated daily loss of N400 billion, if not properly managed. The consequences of such a huge loss for the country and the citizens would be very severe.
“There is a high risk of shutdowns and disruptions in major sectors of the economy. These include trade and commerce, manufacturing, entertainment, transportation, logistics, financial services, the hospitality industry, agriculture, aviation, ICT, and construction sectors. This is in addition to risks to the lives and properties of innocent citizens and corporate bodies. Safety of government assets is also at risk,” Yusuf said.
According to Yusuf, experience shows that the chances of protests degenerating into chaos and anarchy increase with the duration of the protests.
“Prolonged protests create opportunities for hoodlums, miscreants, and other criminal elements in the society to build momentum to unleash mayhem and destruction on the country.
“Over 90 per cent of employed Nigerians are in the informal sector. Employees in this space are dependent on daily income and any disruption to their economic activities beyond 24 hours could snowball into major social unrest. This underlines the country’s vulnerability to prolonged protests,” the CPPE director said.
He urged President Bola Tinubu-led administration to expeditiously implement its economic stabilisation plan to ease production costs and reduce inflationary pressures.
He pointed out that trade costs were still prohibitive and needed to be drastically reduced across the board in a manner that would not undermine domestic production, noting high cargo clearing cost as a major factor driving inflation which needs to be fixed urgently.
“Revenue drive should be managed in a manner that does not impose additional pressures on citizens and corporate bodies. There is also an urgent need to prioritise fiscal frugality and transparency in the public sector at all tiers and across all levels of government coupled with appropriate signaling and messaging that reflect current economic conditions.
“These are essential to earn the confidence of the generality of the people,” Yusuf added.
Some Nigerians have been mobilising for nationwide protests scheduled for the first week of August even as the military and police have threatened the organisers, The ICIR reported.