18/07/2023
ECONOMICS DIFFERENT FROM BALABLU AND HULLABALOO
Someone sent this to me by whatsap:
"N500B will purchase
approximately 8000 of this 60 seater bus.
Instead of giving 8k to 12m poor families, why not distribute these buses across the country to ease the cost of transportation first?
You would also be creating jobs in the process.
That will be:
216 buses for each state and FCT
16,000 drivers (2 rota’d drivers to one bus)
16,000 support drivers (2 support drivers)
100s of manned offices with 1000s of Admin Assts
What of thousands of mechanics and engineers that will suddenly have hope?
What of spare parts dealers?
What of tens of 1000s of snacks and food sellers around the bus stations and garages on the routes of these buses across the country?
Do you how many more thousands of employees that will be recruited from our graduate pool if Innosson Motors is given the order to produce 8,000 buses within a given time frame?
Fact is, we have the solution to ease that country of her troubles but some people are not just ready to serve the people.
I won’t go near the 70 billion for new lawmakers or the 36 billion for judges"
I don't know the author and didn't edit it.(credit to the original author). Barring any mathematical and statistical errors, I fully buy this idea.
I am a supporter of the removal of fuel subsidy for obvious reasons. Aside the demonic corruption in it which every government have been powerless to exorcise, investing the money from subsidy into job creating ventures like transportation and agriculture is the most important justification for it's removal.
Make buses available for commuters at local government levels, make special trucks available for the transportation of farm produce, or better still work with commercial farmers to identify their regular transporters and subsidize fuel or diesel for their haulage vehicles and ensure they don't add a kobo to what they charge farmers and traders.
These are the mist feasible, simple and practicable short term measure that makes sense. How could government not see the futility and waste in sharing "peanuts" to a people who will finish the money in less than a week?
It's not even the case that you can trust those who will share the money to do it honestly and equitably. The corruption in fuel subsidy is a child play compared to the one in sharing 8k to 12 million Nigerians. Government should please perish that idea, it is a puerile, penny wise pound foolish economics.
President Tinubu should not entertain this idea at all, he should use that money and provide "palliative transportation" vehicles for the masses and special groups like students and farmers while working on the long term plans.
Sharing 8k is completely a 'town hall' economics NOT different from balablu and hullabaloo.
