A Professor of International Economics at the University of Ibadan, Professor Adeolu Olusegun Adewuyi, has charged politicians not to find it convenient to pursue and showcase good economic indicators such as high growth, increased access to good infrastructure only during elections but to pursue policies that will strengthen inclusive economic performance throughout their tenure in office such that a good welfare enriching economic philosophy becomes the political ideology of the ruling government.
Professor Adewuyi gave this charge in an inaugural lecture he delivered on behalf of the Faculty of Economics and Management Sciences.
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He said this approach will ensure sustainability of both good economic indicators and political party in power, adding that we can then begin to use economic indicators to predict the outcome of elections in Nigeria as in the advanced countries.
Professor Adewuyi advised that policy makers should be encouraged to disengage from politicising welfare economic matters such as the naira redesign and cashless policies introduced close to the general elections, as this may lead to a biased distribution of economic benefits to only political supporters at the expense of the masses who are suffering for the policy somersault.
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The inaugural lecturer argued that although poverty can occur or increase due to uncontrollable factors such as natural phenomena, the role of controllable factors such as institutions involved in policy making is also very important.
To alleviate poverty, therefore, Professor Adewuyi advised that welfare enhancing economic policies should be supported by both economic and political institutions.
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This, he said, can only be achieved through proper organisation of the masses across all spheres of economic and political activities to serve as major groups in the society that influence public policy.
Professor Adewuyi submitted that if people want Nigeria to change as we all desired, they must not only participate in economic activities but also in political activities which determine the allocation and distribution of power and resources, and hence, the level of welfare.
The inaugural lecture was entitled “What Rescues People from Poverty – Economics of Politics or Politics of Economics?”
