Economic Development Beyond Palliative: A Qualitative Analysis

Abstract

The recent pronouncement by the Nigerian President Bola Ahmed Tunibu to distribute palliatives
packages to the citizens in order to cushion the effect of oil subsidy removal generate greater concern.
The pronouncement came amidst declined in the country’s GDP to 2.51% in the second quarter of 2023
from 3.54% recorded in the same period of 2022. NBS (2023) opined that the 2023 GDP position was
because of the performance of the service sector, which recorded a growth of 4.42% and contributed
58.42% to the aggregate GDP. It is widely believed by scholars’ that, national development and growth
depend largely on the level of economic activities undertaken by country’s economic agents. The agents
perform various economic activities in order to earn a living and channel their surplus resources into
investable projects that will generate more resources for their future survival, national development and
growth. Hence, any nation with a notion of subsidizing consumption rather than production is tantamount
to subjecting her citizens to rent seeking, which will not assist in accelerating and motivating the
production capacity of the citizens. Therefore, the decision to offer the palliatives will mean taken the
Nigeria to the position of paying the oil subsidy regime. While in essence, the 2023 Appropriation Bill
was pass into law the provision of the oil subsidy for only six (6) months that is from January to June
2023. In view of this rather than the present administration to offer palliatives packages, the government
should have look at ways of diversifying the economic in such a way that all capable economic agents
will became productive agents and contribute to both national and international markets. This will help
Nigeria to have favourable foreign reserve balances, overcome negative balance of trade deficit and
improve both local and global credit rating and worthiness.