Planned protests could cost Nigeria N400bn daily: CPPE

The protests planned to start this week in Nigeria could cause an estimated daily loss of N400 billion if not properly managed, the Centre for the Promotion of Private Enterprise (CPPE) said on Sunday.

The group, led by economic expert Muda Yusuf, a former director-general of Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said the consequences of such a huge loss for the country and the citizens would be very severe.

“The proposed nationwide protests portend grave dangers for an economy which is already in  a very fragile state,” the CPPE said in a statement. “There is a high risk of shutdowns and disruptions in major sectors of the economy. This is in addition to risks to lives and properties of innocent citizens and corporate bodies. Safety of government assets are also at risk.”

It commended the Inspector General of the Police for acknowledging the rights of the citizens to protest and offering to protect the genuine protesters.

It said: “We plead with the organisers of the protests to cooperate with the police to make the planned protests peaceful and orderly.  It is in the overall interest of all for this to happen. Peacefulness of a protest does not detract from the potency of its messaging. 

“The protest organisers should not offer a platform for elements in the country who have criminal intents and whose agenda is to inflict pains on innocent citizens and corporate organizations and destruction of public assets. We cannot fix a problem by promoting such negative tendencies.

“Additionally, the CPPE would like to advise that the duration of the protests should be short, possibly one day.  Experience has shown that the chances of protests degenerating into chaos and anarchy increases with the duration of the protests.  Prolonged protests create opportunities for hoodlums, miscreants and other criminal elements in the society to build momentum to unleash mayhem and destruction on the country.

“Over 90% of employed Nigerians are in the informal sector. Employees in this space are dependent on daily income and any disruption to their economic activities beyond 24 hours could snowball into a major social unrest. This underlines the country’s vulnerability to prolonged protests. 

“Meanwhile, we urge the administration to expeditiously implement its economic stabilization plan to ease production costs and ultimately reduce inflationary pressures. Trade costs are still prohibitive and need to be drastically reduced across board in a manner that would not undermine domestic production.  High cargo clearing cost is a major factor driving inflation which needs to be fixed urgently. Revenue drive should be managed in a manner that does not impose additional pressures on citizens and corporate bodies.  There is also an urgent need to prioritize fiscal frugality and transparency in the public sector in all tiers and across all levels of government coupled with appropriate signaling and messaging that reflect current economic conditions.  These are essential to earn the confidence of the generality of the people.”