Mr Frank Olize, the legendary broadcaster, was one of those who made NTA tick in the 1980s and 1990s. He once travelled around the country in search of the “common man”. It is a term we use freely and frequently — especially pertaining to a person’s economic status — but it can be flexible and contentious. Almost everybody Olize interviewed, including Chief MKO Abiola, claimed to be the “common man”! At the time, Abiola was one of the richest Nigerians and a top philanthropist who, interestingly, did quite a lot for the “common man” in almost every state of the federation with his charity. Abiola would go on to win the June 12, 1993 presidential election, although it was annulled. The issue of the “common man” came up again recently when Dr Zacch Adedeji, executive chairman of the Nigeria Revenue Service (NRS), took questions from Channels TV’s Seun Okinbaloye. Asked why the “common man” was not yet enjoying the gains of President Bola Tinubu’s reforms despite improvement in macro-economic indices, Adedeji listed a number of benefits: the doubling of the minimum wage, the increased allocations to the 36 states and 774 LGAs, the fiscal turnaround that has enabled prompt payment of salaries and settlement of the arrears by the states, the millions of students benefitting from NELFUND, and the jobs created by increased spending on infrastructure. Adedeji repeatedly asked: are these beneficiaries not the “common man”? Who then is the “common man” not benefitting from economic growth and improved revenue? Are companies experiencing a boom in the stock market not employers of labour? Are tens of thousands of Nigerians daily engaged in the construction of the Lagos-Calabar coastal road and the Sokoto-Badagry expressway, among other major roads, not “common men”? He was forceful and emphatic in his responses to the questions, citing data as evidence that the economy has made encouraging progress with the reforms. He pooh-poohed the claim that Tinubu was practising voodoo economics. Whenever I have had to comment on Tinubu’s hard-hitting economic reforms, I always concede that they were inevitable and necessary, but I also highlight the impact on the ordinary Nigerian, whom we generally refer to as the “common man”. In other words, while the negative impact of the reforms is felt by every Nigerian, those at the bottom are the most affected. As I previously argued, it is impossible to remove petrol subsidy and liberalise the forex market without pains. A presidential candidate who promises “reforms without tears” is like a cook promising to make an omelette “without breaking eggs”. Let’s stop fooling around: economic reforms always come with hardship. And while two years of intensive pain might have given way to relative macro-economic stability as we can see from some major indices (the currency that was on freefall has stabilised, inflation rate that was heading for the moon has calmed down, and the financial markets are back on their feet), the argument is that at the micro-economic level, or on the streets, the people are struggling and are not smiling. It is true that revenue is growing and the three tiers of government are sharing more money, but how can the “common man”, who should be at the centre of it all, get a piece of the action? Hence, the debate we should be having is how best to ease the pain on the masses. My interest today is the situation of the “common man” (and “common woman”, I must finally clarify). How can their lot be improved — and quickly? Adedeji, while pointing out that the population of out-of-school children has dropped by nearly two million citing UNICEF estimates, said although the poverty rate has increased in the last three years, “it could have been worse without the reforms”. Put differently, the cancer would have progressed to the next stage without surgery and chemotherapy. Unfortunately, surgery and chemotherapy are painful and uncomfortable — but most cancer patients will still prefer to receive treatment than to leave the disease untouched. We are now at the stage of post-surgery recovery. True, foreign currency reserves have grown from a net of about $4 billion in 2023 to nearly $52 billion as a result of the forex reforms. Yes, capital importation moved from $3.9 billion in 2023 to $23.22 billion. Agreed, crude oil production is on the upward swing. Indeed, we have become net exporters of petroleum products for the first time in decades, thanks largely to the Dangote Refinery and the naira-for-crude policy. And, sure, the NGX market cap has grown from N30.36 trillion to N161 trillion within three years. But the costs of transportation, feeding and housing are still digging a hole in the pockets of the ordinary citizens. Adedeji spoke about wage increase, jobs generated by infrastructural projects, student loans, regular payment of salaries, and the like, as concrete proof of the positive impact of
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