The President/CEO of MFP Global Services and a Board Member of Oyo State Anti-Corruption Agency, Dr. Prince Oyebade Oyedepo, FCA has described Nigerians as resilient and undeterred in spite of economic challenges in the Country. Dr. Oyebade Oyedepo made this assertion on Prince FM radio program tagged People’s Focus anchored by Mrs. Jadesola Ajibola.
In his words, regardless of whatever happens in the economy, our people are generally happy. They make themselves happy, and that is why you cannot compare them with other people in the world. Some other people in the world, can even hang themselves by the time they experience little problems but Nigerians are not like that.
He continues, we are very resilient here in Nigeria and to demonstrate so, people organize massive celebrations particularly during Sallah, Christmas and New Year celebrations. They can save for it from January to December in order to have very glorious celebrations, they plan ahead to achieve it. In addition, they do not want their children to lack, particularly during celebrations not to expose them to negative tendencies.
He took a quick recap of the economic activities of year 2024 to counsel the government and the people going forward. According to the MFP top brass, 2024 was a challenging year for everybody, government inclusive. That was the year when the value of Naira was terribly affected, Naira was devalued to the extent that the rate at which it exchanged for a pound was over ₦2,000, dollar for ₦1,800 or thereabout, the cost of living was very high, the standard of living fell drastically, production was badly affected, lots of businesses closed down, some of them relocated outside Nigeria, government went borrowing almost on a monthly basis to be able to cope with their recurrent expenditure and do a little bit of capital expenditure. So, it was a challenging year for everybody.
So, having realized that, the first thing that has to be done by government, businesses, and individuals is self-appraisal. You have to appraise the situation of what happened in preceding years to know how to improve on it in subsequent years. If you do not do self-appraisal, there is no way by which there can be meaningful progress. In the process of self-appraisal, you must be ready to take responsibility. One thing that is affecting us negatively in Nigeria is that the people in government are not ready to take responsibility. Let us accept the fact that we have a precarious situation and we have to move forward as a nation.
According to the finance expert, whenever you see stagnation in any system, the first thing you have to do is that you must shore up your revenue, which is your income, and reduce your expenditure. So, the moment you shore up your revenue and you reduce your expenditure, you are likely going to have a leftover which can be deployed to other areas. But if you do not have leftover, you will continue to borrow and the borrowing will continue unabated.
He opined that there cannot be stability in the value of Naira if we do not encourage people to go into production and agriculture. If we continue to import materials, goods and services into this country, there is no way by which we can stabilize the value of our currency.
Therefore, government must work on stability of the value of currency. They must work towards bringing the cost of production downwards drastically in such a way that the cost we are producing and the prices we are selling will be competitive with that of the foreign goods. What we have in Nigeria presently is a situation where even the foreign goods are selling at much cheaper price than the locally produced goods. That is why you find out that our producers are not making profits because they are unable to sell their stocks. Some of them are having heavy stocks unsold.
According to the anti-corruption Czar, government should provide facilities for local producers to go into production and do so at cheaper and competitive rates without which the Country will continue to be on the same spot.
Dr. Oyebade Oyedepo counselled the government and the people to embrace the following strategies to improve the financial and economic wellbeing going forward;
• Embrace diversification even as individuals to shore up your income. Only one source of income is not adequate again for sustainability in Nigeria. If you are a salary earner, you should diversify by having another stream of income. Skill acquisition is imperative nowadays more than ever before.
• Everyone should go into agriculture now. We have fertile land everywhere. You can even plant inside unused tyres at your backyard. Utilize land lying fallow around your compound for your benefits.
• Adopt budgeting as a lifestyle. Budgeting is not only meant for the people in government, it is meant for business organizations and individuals as well. By so doing, you will be able to monitor your inflow and outflow. The moment your inflow is not coming as expected, you prune down your costs.
• You should have some savings no matter the situation. Savings is different from your investment. If you do not have savings, you will have to collapse your investment or go borrowing anytime there is urgent need.
• Avoid white elephant projects that can drain your resources. This is not the time for you to be thinking of engaging in projects that can drain resources for other needs if you do not have the capacity.
• Prioritize your needs over your wants. You have needs such as rent, payment of school fees, food and shelter.
• Be sensitive to opportunities. In any challenging situation, there are opportunities. In spite of the fact that we are having glooming economic situation in Nigeria, a lot of people are making waves. There are opportunities on social media platforms, some are using it for marketing, commerce or networking. Instead of using it to their advantage, some people are using it negatively. Therefore, people should maximize opportunities available in any situation.
Finally, he encouraged the government and the people to hope for the best irrespective of what we are experiencing presently. Nigeria is a fertile land incomparable with any other place on the surface of the earth.
Dr Prince Oyebade Oyedepo, FCA is a Past Chairman of Ibadan & District Society of ICAN & CITN, Patron of Ibadan & District Society of ICAN, Past Zonal Chairman of ICAN & Former Member of ICAN National Governing Council. He is a Former Vice Chairman of Association of Nigerian Authors, Oyo State Chapter. He is presently serving Oyo State Government as a Board Member of Oyo State Anti-Corruption Agency (OYACA). He is an Author and a Public Affairs Analyst. He is the President/CEO of MFP Global Services and Leader of MFP Group, a Group of Multidisciplinary Finance Professionals
