Daily Trust Editorial, April 18, 2025
The United States President Donald Trump’s volley of tariffs on goods exported to the US has hit the heart and belly of global trade. Though suspended for 90 days, the hysterical tariff hike has caused trade between the world’s biggest economy and North American countries, South America, Europe, Asia and Africa to nosedive. Nigeria is no exception. The rest of the world is re-examining its fiscal policies for immunity against the devastating effects of the twist in Trump’s ‘Make America Wealthy Again’ strategy; Nigeria must also be proactive. If implemented, the 14 per cent tariff to be imposed on goods Nigeria shall export to America will affect the $12 billion trade between the two countries, especially oil and gas exports.
Trump’s objective is to revive industrial production in the United States; he intends to rev up local production, bring down the unemployment rate, and reduce the trade deficit with other countries. Though the measure has hurt the global economy, the US policy has taught many countries that are complacent and laid-back about industrialisation to wake up from their slumber. It is good to receive development aid from advanced countries. But the world has suddenly realised that it is better to industrialise, boost their economy, create jobs, and be less dependent on handouts from countries that are resilient, stable and economically viable.
The trade war between the US and China is expected to be fierce. That is because in the last four decades, China has struggled to rise from being a symbol of poverty to an industrialised society. China is now the world’s second biggest economy, after the US. China may have relied on aid from the US previously, but it has outgrown that status and competes with the US for influence in many parts of the world.
No other secret has elevated China more than industrial production. In contrast, Nigeria has supervised the collapse and death of industries planted in the early days of the country’s independence. In their place is the culture of importing goods that used to be produced in Nigeria. To describe the country as the junkyard of imported junk is not an overstatement. Emerging countries that produce cars, electronics, clothes, communication gadgets, and other common items target Nigeria as an export destination.
For more than a decade, the country’s four refineries were idle. The fourthlargest crude oil exporter in the world wasted its forex to import refined petrol. The emergence of Dangote Petroleum Refinery reduced the shame, but it is still being resisted by so-called stakeholders in the sector.
It is almost two years into the administration of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, but his economic policies are not clear. The government has taken more from the people through a hike in fuel prices, unparalleled devaluation of the naira, and multiple taxation. The people have been impoverished. There is no clear industrial policy. The multilateral loans from the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank do not address the country’s shortfall in the industrial and productive sector. Rather, they are poured into projects that can be sorted using local funds. Trump should wake this government up about the priorities that are imperative for Nigeria’s economic growth and a better standard of living for the populace.
Finance Minister Wale Edun has waved aside the negative impact of the tariff war on Nigeria, arguing that sustaining oil and gas exports could mitigate losses. This is hardly the truth, as the new policy could lead to a plunge in our oil exports to the US in the immediate or near future. Nigeria must tackle the challenge with seriousness, first by laying the building blocks for our industrialisation.
Both the federal and state governments should channel the excess revenues from the removal of the subsidy and devaluation of the naira into industrialisation. The myth that the government has no business in industrial production has been debunked by China, where every tier of government is actively involved in industrial and business activities. We call on governors to invest the excess funds instead of wasting them on temporary pleasures and vanities.
Other measures that could help are a boost in our oil production to generate revenue from other sources. The government must also deliberately seek trade deals with individual countries in the world. This strategy is stabilising the United Kingdom after its exit from the European Union. Nigeria must explore and expand trade opportunities with African countries. Today, goods produced in Nigeria are widely exported in West Africa. Nigeria could build on this established advantage. Essentially, the culture of exporting raw materials to other countries should be reviewed. Nigeria could focus on processing raw materials into finished goods within the country. We must add value to our raw materials before we export them. This would create jobs, increase revenue, and make exports more competitive.
We call on Tinubu to set up a ‘tariff war team’ that will come up with enduring measures that could insulate Nigeria from the harsh impact of Trump’s tariffs and erect the foundation for Nigeria’s industrial stability.
