First, we must ask if Dr Tope Fasua the Chief Economic Adviser to the President or is it Economic Assistant to the Vice President cos im confused, was speaking officially or was rendering a personal opinion
Now my challenge with Tope who is a friend and a close collaborator is his love for the spotlight
Tope is everywhere, analysing, talking, engaging and postulating and most times annoying Nigerians
I had once mentioned to him, that he had to be very guarded in his utterances and seek official clarifications and backing before coming out.
He waved it and continued to be a fly in the ointment of the administration.
His latest faux pas has more than annoyed Nigerians to the extent that he has been trending for all the wrong reasons for the last 48 hours.
The Tope I know is very thin-skinned. He doesn’t like counter-arguments and takes criticisms very personally hence his leaving the intellectually rich Dukes Summit, a WhatsApp app group with 200 of Nigeria’s brightest minds that I set up to discuss these kinds of issues
In analysing his latest gambit, I want to look away from his statement, which had been well-publicised and look at the causative factors of this seeming train wreck.
It was the brilliant Mustafa Chike Obi who told me that the most important person in a serious effort to revamp the economy should be the Chief Economic Adviser to the President
It is this person who would coordinate five strategic ministries and the CBN in the effort
He mentioned – Agric, Communication and IT, Finance, Education and Petroleum.
Now, within this context, do you see Tope having the clout to coordinate these efforts?
Have you ever seen Tope in a meeting with the CBN Governor or called to address the FEC or working closely with Trade and Investments or Finance in the efforts
Have you ever seen him in any presidential delegation to serious economic trade missions?
It is this huge amount of time in his hands that allows him to junket all over the place, annoying everybody, including his bosses.
The last very serious economic adviser with weight that we had was Prof Charles Soludo and we saw what happened to the economy.
Dr Sulaimon was appointed almost at the tail end of the Buhari administration and, as such,, couldn’tn’t do anything. He was even more of a theoretical economist who was detached from reality on the ground
You cannot run the Nigerian economy with graphs and chats and that is his main forte
Now this one is a social media economic adviser who has no real pedigree either in academics or as an economic player.
His last known employment was working at UBA or was it Standard Trust Bank hence his very robust participation in their Alumni WhatsApp app group
Tope got this job on the back of a recently acquired doctorate and a series of brilliantly written articles on the economy and this was because the administration was looking for support in the volatile 50 and below professional demography.
They tapped not only him but also people like Toyin Subair and Fela Durotoye amongst others
All paperweights with a good gift of the garb and strong charismatic appeal
All failed. Fela has resigned, Toyin is as quiet as a mouse and Tope is running around naked trying to keep himself busy on the talk circuit
Do you see Tope summoning Aliko, Kola Adeshina, Elumelu or Samad to a meeting to discuss tariffs?
My brother, I think we even take Tope too seriously cos even his paymasters have ignored him otherwise, Onanuga would have issued a statement on the matter but instead, the big boys of the regime are busying themselves with whatever it is that they are doing while allowing the little boy fiddle with his penis to our consternation.
I think Tope should resign and go and take up an appointment at Ekiti State University, where he comes from, and contribute more meaningfully to the Nation.
Come and beat me, thank you.
Duke of Shomolu
