"Why President Tinubu's reforms must be pragmatic"

We've been here before. And now we are back here as victims of progress in a sad state of dense gloom. Some time ago there was a national outcry when we noticed a dangerous decrease in lift on the country's aircraft following unaccelerated stalls under the command of Captain Muhammadu Buhari - the country's aircraft has escaped shipwreck by a hair's breadth.

Today, under Captain Bola Ahmed Tinubu, symptoms of an aerodynamic accelerated stall are beginning to manifest, which occur at higher than normal speeds due to abrupt and/or excessive application of controls .

In the meantime, aviation experts tell us that accelerated stalls, the type we are currently experiencing, are even more dangerous than non-accelerated stalls, the one we just escaped! Fingerprints of trouble.

The palpable fear on the faces of women selling fresh fish in Epe, Lagos, prompted today's dialogue. “Oga,” they lamented, “we didn't know it would be like this when we made our choice. Now we fear for the future of our children because the student loan law is elitist and the indirect tuition fees offered are beyond our level. Sales have dropped more than 50% as anglers and our customers complain about the fuel price fiasco. The fear on their faces was so thick it could be cut with a knife.

Very quickly, hopes turn into despair, expectations into frustrations and aspirations into despair. We see progress without its twin sister, prosperity, we see growth without its mother, development, and we see movement without its father, movement. We reflect with sadness on the absence of shared prosperity, sustainable development and fruitful movement.

Before, Nigerians were not easily fazed by problems, they seemed to have unbreakable shock absorbers and an inexhaustible sense of humor, but that is not the case now. Today, "the city is not smiling" because their shocks are worn out and the struts are unable to effectively absorb inflationary impacts and mitigate shocks created by ongoing economic reforms. Nigeria must break these circles of hope linked to intrauterine abortion.

Who will tell Mr. President that around 90% of Nigerians are currently suffering from "sifia" pain - haemorrhages? Who will tell the president that the reason economists have "two hands" is to maintain a delicate balance between the speed of economic reform, on the one hand, and the well-being of citizens, on the other? Who will tell the President that the five bottles of 'bitter herbs' which he puts on the table for our consumption as a medicine to cure Nigeria's economic kwashiorkor would lead to complications if he did not provide proportionate 'sugar' for the bitter medicine go down well!

The new Town Sheriff, in his attempt to detoxify the economy, has uncorked five bottles of bitter herbs as antioxidants, namely: Fuel @ N617, Naira hovering around N900: $1, new d electricity, coming, inflation rate @ 22.97%, raising interest rates on bank loans from 30% to 40% and finally, the proposed introduction of indirect tuition fees in public universities and colleges. Unity schools from September ranging from 400% to 600% increase as government grants autonomy to universities to fend for themselves.

Nigerians are asking, 'Who have we offended?', as youth unemployment soars to over 60%, businesses downsize, many collapse and real GDP drops to 2.7% due to high cost of living.

Undoubtedly, the consumption of bitter herbs leads to better absorption of nutrients, natural detoxification of the liver and kidneys. You don't have to be an economist or herbalist to know that the Nigerian economy needs a detox. However, the toxicological effects of an overdose of proportionate sugar-free bitters can lead to alterations in hepatic, renal and hematological indices, which can ultimately damage all the vital organs of the body. For an undernourished Nigerian economy suffering from low productivity, low income and low purchasing power juxtaposed with high public debt, high capital flight, high JAPA rate and high corruption, five jerrycans of 'bitter herbs in 60 days seems like an overdose. Literally and metaphorically speaking, Nigeria's immune system is collapsing bitterly!

Unquestionably, no country in the world is 100% capitalist, devoid of subsidies. America, Japan and Europe, after World War II (WW2), embraced capitalism with a human face and milk of kindness - they built a system that reasonably cared for the weak and poor among them to achieve social balance. Even then, it takes capital to be able to practice capitalism, and 60% of Nigerians lack capital, according to UN statistics. Unprotected capitalism, like unprotected sex, is only practiced in the animal kingdom where life is short, brutal and nasty.

However, I share the President's concern: a nation that consumes what it does not produce and produces what it does not consume adds z...