Framing 2.

Let’s revisit the decision-making trap of framing. Let’s give a brief recap first. According to an article in Havard Business Review. The first step in making a decision is to frame the question. It’s also one of
the most dangerous steps. The way a problem is framed can profoundly influence the choices you make. A frame can establish the status quo or introduce an anchor. It can highlight sunk costs or lead you toward confirming evidence. This is enough recap “phew!” Let’s get into our discussion for today. A case study using APC party, more political and a little bit controversial.

The decision you would make today is “drum roll”; “Can APC count on your vote next election?”.That is a decision you have to make based on the following frames:

Frame one is a part of an article from Nairametrics:

Economy
Nigeria’s economic growth rate dropped to 2.8 percent in 2015, the slowest since 1999. It will decelerate further to 2.3 percent in 2016, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said on March 31. The alarming figure for us at Nairametrics however is that with the country’s population rising at a rate (3% per annum) faster than the GDP growth rate, Nigerians are for the first time since 1999 growing poorer collectively.
This is a time bomb waiting to explode!

Naira
At Nairametrics, we have nearly shouted ourselves hoarse about how we believe that the current Naira policy of the President is wrong-footed and causing more harm than good to Nigerians. The wide premium is encouraging corruption via round-tripping, despite the President’s vows that he is fighting corruption. On the economic front, the policy is discouraging investments, has frozen up the interbank market for FX, leading to factory closures, causing shortages of fuel and other basic products, and pushing the country closer to recession

Inflation
Nigeria’s inflation rate increased at the fastest pace over the years.  President’s policies. Most retailers of everything from pure water to foodstuff and newspapers have raised prices as a result of the dollar shortage and soaring rates at the black market. The outcomes of the President policies are opposite of what he
wants, but he refuses to change course.

Jobs
Nigeria’s unemployment rate increased to 10.4 percent in the last quarter of 2015, according to the Bureau of Statistics. It is forecast to increase sharply in the coming months as the country’s economy decelerates.

Now let’s look at another frame from an article from “Vanguardngr”.

War on Anti Corruption.
The new Whistleblowing Policy introduced by the Federal Ministry of Finance in December 2016 has since then yielded several billions of Naira in recoveries from tax evaders and public officials. (In the first two years alone it yielded N7.8 billion, US$378million, and £27,800 in recoveries from public officials targeted by whistleblowers).

Fiscal support to States.
The Buhari Administration has extended more than N2 Trillion Naira in bailout packages to State Governments, to enable them to meet their salary and pension obligations, especially in the face of dwindling oil revenues in the first 3 years of the Administration. The support has come in the form of the following:
Budget Support Facility (Total of N614 billion extended to the States.
Paris Club Refunds ($5.4 billion).

Pensions.
In January 2019, President Buhari launched Nigeria’s Micro Pension Scheme – which allows self-employed persons and persons working in organisations with less than 3 employees to save for the provision of pension at retirement or incapacitation.

The Buhari Administration is prioritizing the payment of pension arrears owed staff of current and privatized/defunct Federal agencies:

N54 billion released to settle outstanding 33% pension arrears (the 33% pension arrears date back to 2010 when the minimum wage was increased to N18,000).

Delta Steel Company (liquidated in 2005): 3,542 pensioners have now been placed on the payroll, ending a 13-year wait for their entitlements.

NITEL: 9,216 pensioners payrolled, after more than a decade of neglect

Retired Biafran Police Officers (dismissed by the Federal Government in 1971, after the Civil War ended, and pardoned by President Obasanjo in 2000): President Buhari approved the payment of the pensions, unpaid since their pardon in 2000. N571.56 million was paid to a total of 174 beneficiaries in October 2017

Nigeria Airways: President Buhari approved the release of N24 billion in September 2018, for the settlement of 50% of workers disengaged when the airline was liquidated in 2003/2004.

Ease of Doing Business Reform Successes:
The work of the Presidential Enabling Business Environment Council (inaugurated by President Buhari in August 2016) and the Enabling Business Environment Secretariat (EBES) has resulted in Nigeria moving up 39 places on the World Bank’s Ease of Doing Business rankings since 2016. In the last 3 years, Nigeria has twice been adjudged one of the 10 Most Improved Economies in the Rankings.

The Nigerian Investment Promotion Council (NIPC) in 2017 completed a long-overdue revision of the list of activities that can benefit from Nigeria’s Pioneer Status Incentive, which grants beneficiary companies a 3 to the 5-year tax holiday. The revision, done more than 10 ten years after the last one, has modernized the List, expanding the tax holiday incentives to qualifying companies in E-commerce, Software Development, Animation, Music, Film and TV. Good news for Nollywood right.

We have two extracts about one administration, so two question bug me right now. Is the government successful because of the lense by which they are viewed if so, ” Am I subject to a decision trap when I vote for a party during an election?” Is APC a victim of framing?