Nigeria’s Economic Quagmire: Chief Ijezie unveils five-pillar strategy for revival

An economist and tax strategist, Chief Blakey Okwudili Ijezie, has proposed a five-pillar strategy to reverse Nigeria’s economic challenges.

 

Speaking during the 4th edition of Blakey’s National Economic Conference, at the weekend, Ijezie attributed the country’s economic woes to poor policy decisions, selective neglect, and reckless governance.

 

“If you set a building on fire without preparing water to quench it, you’re not a leader — you’re a public hazard,” Ijezie said, criticizing the government’s handling of the economy.

 

He cited statistics showing that fuel prices have skyrocketed from ₦185 per liter to over ₦850 per liter, while headline inflation has risen to over 33% and food inflation has crossed 40%.

 

Ijezie’s proposed strategy includes reducing the cabinet size to the constitutionally mandated 37 ministers, implementing a managed float system, fast-tracking gas-to-power projects, establishing agro-processing zones, and implementing a national job scheme. “Governance should not be an industry; it must be an instrument of service,” he emphasized.

 

The five pillars are designed to restore fiscal sanity, stabilize the currency, energize infrastructure, unleash productive capacity, and empower the people. Ijezie stressed the need for bold fiscal discipline, policy consistency, and tangible results to restore confidence in the economy.

 

“We export raw pain and import processed poverty; we must reverse that,” Ijezie said, highlighting the need for value-added industrialization. He also called for a true federal system where development is a right for all, not a privilege for a few.