Sheriffdeen Tella
Human capital development isn’t equal to more institutions
“The Nigerian educational system is in trouble,” lamented a friend who owns a private coaching institution for secondary school students, particularly those sitting for the Joint Admissions and Ma...
22nd April 2024
Palliatives: Let’s change the music
Since the word “palliative” entered the Nigerian economic vocabulary during the COVID-19 pandemic it has remained a regular and common feature of our economic management. If we are to look at medi...
15th April 2024
Nigeria’s economy is open, fragile and susceptible
Today, all economies in the world are open to each other. Thanks to globalisation which makes the practice of autarky impossible. Japan and China, at different periods and levels of development, were ...
8th April 2024
Economic teams: Identifying economic infrastructure
In many democracies, the state of the national economy determines where the votes go. It is not for nothing but for the survival of the electorate. Even in Nigeria where religious and ethnic factors s...
1st April 2024
On minimum wage and efficiency wage
There is always controversy over what should be the minimum wage paid to workers in Nigeria and of course, somewhere else. That is why there are often long negotiations between the government and work...
25th March 2024
Lessons from Awolowo economic management
As I round off the discussion on Chief Obafemi Awolowo’s economic management today, it is imperative to note that three short articles like these represent the tip of the iceberg and an invitation f...
18th March 2024
Learning from Awolowo economic management (2)
Economic management requires skills and planning and looking back, it is clear that Chief Obafemi Awolowo had the natural skill which he later built on academically. Many people only remember him as a...
11th March 2024
Learning from Awolowo economic management
If Chief Obafemi Awolowo was alive today, we would be preparing for his 115th birthday which would have come up on March 6, 2024. But that is not to be. Death, the unwelcome, yet unavoidable guest of ...
4th March 2024
Growing the economy from the states
In his book, The Wealth of Nations, Adam Smith, the acclaimed father of Economics, argued that the wealth of individuals in an economy translates to the wealth of the nation. This implies that if most...
26th February 2024
Electricity subsidy: A renewed channel of fleecing the nation?
Nigeria remains a huge village in darkness with national gird regularly in trouble, underperforming or in plain language, collapsing. The darkness continues to thicken as the country ages, yet the sec...
19th February 2024
Nigerian economy is in dependency mode
The Nigerian economy and Nigerian policymakers have been under stress since President Bola Tinubu’s announcement of the removal of fuel subsidy at his inauguration. The economic managers have tried ...
12th February 2024
The arts and science of economic interventions
Market economy is prone to regular government interventions, particularly in countries mimicking true capitalism, which is typical of developing economies, including Nigeria. The classical economists ...
5th February 2024
Medicare: The return to ‘Elewe-omo’
Inflation has a way of trivialising economic realities. It turns production, outputs, income and even profits into emptiness or nothingness. The high values of salaries and wages, real income and prof...
29th January 2024
Season of abnormal economic activities
The current trending economic activities and reports are about banditry, kidnapping, and corruption. Banditry and kidnapping are trending because they are happening as each day breaks or night falls. ...
22nd January 2024
Prioritising short-term economic focus
“This time next year, I don’t want any handout from the government. I want to buy rice and condiments from my hard-earned money. I want to have a job and earn income.” These were the words I hea...
15th January 2024
Nigerian monies in the ‘trenches’
As the Central Bank of Nigeria continues to chase shadows about where the monies supplied into the economy are (as if they are operating from New York or London), and inflation continues to soar becau...
8th January 2024
Moving Nigeria towards economic redemption
It is always good to start a Monday with optimism. Not even when that Monday is the start of a new year! I have this inkling that if I receive money on a Monday, the likelihood is that I might receive...
1st January 2024
Corruption, fake products and the Nigerian economy
Corruption is multifaceted, hydra-headed and multidimensional in nature, modicum and structure. That is why it appears in various discussions, places, activities and actions. Whenever corruption is me...
25th December 2023
Six months: What has changed in Nigerian economy
The government needs time. When did they get there? The government cannot do it alone. The government met a bankrupt economy. Those were the phrases that shaped discussions when former President Muham...
18th December 2023
Budget presentation and citizens’ needs
There is a season for everything. The season for the yuletide is here; so is the season for how public money will be spent next year. This is the season for anger because of hunger. It is also the sea...
11th December 2023
Budget 2024 and ancillary issues
As you are reading this, the discussion on the 2024 Federal Government budget at the National Assembly is already at an advanced stage. We were informed that there is a deadline before December 31, 20...
4th December 2023
Education: Social Science Academy of Nigeria and others
As the Social Science Academy of Nigeria holds its 2023 Annual General Assembly in Abuja under tight budget constraints this week, it dawned on me that the Nigerian nation has started reaping the frui...
27th November 2023
On food, agriculture and inflation
Each time the National Bureau of Statistics releases its data for inflation, my interest lies in the position of food in the inflation equation. I have noticed that prices of foodstuffs generally are ...
20th November 2023
Assisting local industries to stay afloat
President Bola Tinubu is very passionate about job creation and knows that industrialisation is one major way to get going. That must be why he has been on the road or in the air but definitely not in...
13th November 2023
What is the govt focal point?
If you ask me the priority of the government today, I can only guess that it is not electricity, it is not about food production and definitely, it is neither education nor fighting corruption. Possib...
6th November 2023
Appraising environment for economic policies
Last week, an appraisal of some economic policies was reported here. All the policies could not be appraised, and new ones have even evolved. That is the nature of economic policies because economic a...
30th October 2023
Appraising recent economic policies
President Bola Tinubu government was inaugurated on the verge of total collapse of the Nigerian economy. The economy was on a stretcher in the Intensive Care Unit being discharged in a wheelchair. The...
23rd October 2023
Nigerians and labour productivity
One major problem with increasing domestic production in Nigeria can be linked to low labour productivity. The problem must be tackled from the sides of the employers and employees. Economic theory ri...
16th October 2023
Pump-priming Nigerian economy with production
Besides the weights of debt servicing and debt repayment, the issue of production in the Nigerian economy is becoming intractable. Starting with the inability to meet the crude oil quota from the Orga...
9th October 2023
Nigerian economy in the doldrums @ 63
The Nigerian economy is as resilient as the people. Over the last few years, the economy never exhibited some considerable level of recovery. So, the Nigerian economy had hardly witnessed a boom, even...
2nd October 2023
That Africa might meet Tinubu expectations at UNGA
The annual United Nations General Assembly normally provides opportunities for world leaders to express their desires on national and international issues. Many leaders, mainly from Africa, see such a...
25th September 2023