By Akinwale Kasali
Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, National Leader of the All Progressives Congress, APC, has called on the President Muhammadu Buhari administration to look into the plight of Nigerians over the Lockdown of the country, no thanks to the Pandemic, Covid-19.
He also advised President Buhari on how to sustain the economy and save citizens from dying of hunger.
Tinubu called for an economic relief package in the form of emergency sustenance payments to vulnerable Nigerians.
The APC leader made this statement in his Economic Policy paper entitled Coronavirus Economic Stimulus Programme.
According to him, “This situation presents a historic chance to establish a more beneficial social contract between government and the governed.
“With the fiscal latitude provided by lifting the budgetary limit, government can render emergency sustenance relief to most Nigerian households, especially the recently unemployed, via cash payments.
“This will blunt hunger, maintain aggregate demand in the domestic economy and help sustain private-sector markets to the extent possible.
“Directed towards needy and modest households, such expenditure must be heavily weighted to local produce, not to imports. This will help mute inflation.
“Such payments can be done in either one or in a combination of three ways. First, we can designate a stipend for every household.
“The amount should be enough to pay for the monthly needs of an “average” household for food and other basics. While this may somewhat penalise larger families, perfection cannot be had at this time.
“Second, the stipends could be given as a form of emergency unemployment insurance to those who can prove they were relieved of employment due to the crisis. This would be more targeted at the actual victims of the crisis but harder to administer.
“This stipend would also have to be extended to owners of small and medium-sized businesses. “Third, we could render some form of payroll support to companies and businesses that seek to retain workers albeit they may not be fully employed.
“The stipend could help companies stay in operation while maintaining workers on their payroll. By maintaining workers, the company can more swiftly return to full operation when normalcy returns. Payment of these stipends will require hiring additional government workers to augment the existing bureaucracies to implement this program.”
