Lately the naira has sold for as much as N400 to the US dollar and indeed things are falling apart. Everything and everyone seems to be affected, from the palm wine tapper in my village, who cannot even to the identify, spell or even correctly pronounce the word dollar (they call it dalla), to the CBN governor himself, everyone is wailing.

It started with the fall of the price of crude oil in the international market, an issue that has actually affected all national economies that are dependent on crude oil as primary source of revenue. The emergency restrictions introduced by the federal government through the CBN continue to yield mixed effects. On one hand, the rate of depletion of the foreign reserves has slowed, on the other hand however, the black market is booming and the key players (especially commercial banks) are making a killing this season. The best part is, Nigerians are speculating against their own currency for profit, how typical.

We may go ahead and blame Muhammadu Buhari, Goodluck Jonathan or Dasuki and Co for the situation (and of course it should be another man’s fault, we haven’t done anything wrong abi?), but the reason why the dollar is high is common sense economics that even a lay man like me can understand. If we do not produce what we consume and do not consume what we produce, we cannot have a strong currency or economy even if oil sells for one thousand dollars per barrel.

We are quiet lucky as a nation that the factors necessitating this fall of the naira are giving us some soft landing. We are in a situation in which it is only the price of crude oil that is falling, even with a practical hope that it may bounce back soon, we haven’t gotten to the point where there is no more crude to sell, which is why I sincerely hope and pray that this dollar must go higher.

This dollar that has for the first time made the federal government base most parts of the funding for the 2016 budget on non oil revenue must go higher, in fact it must remain higher, so that the culture of focusing on non-oil revenue will at least be entrenched for the next 4 years. This dollar that is making Nigerians realize that we have to start producing pencils and tooth picks must go higher, it must, to enable us reduce the rate at which we employ people in other countries while we have no jobs of our own.

This dollar that is making Nigerians realize that there is something called Innoson Motors must continue to increase. Finally we are now beginning to appreciate what many people for whatever reasons, described as cheap toy cars with no real design. The appreciation is so much that even the Nigerian Air Force (kudos to them) now have a spare parts manufacturing contract with the automaker.

This dollar that is making Nigerians discover the rich wonderful taste in Abakaliki rice must double and triple indefinitely. At least we are learning to reduce the rate at which we consume cow feed brought to us from Thailand and Malaysia as staple rice, which continuously cause numerous un-identifiable illnesses at best.

This dollar must go up so that Nigerians can understand that University of Jos, University of Ibadan, University of Nigeria Nsuka and many more teaching hospitals in Nigeria also perform kidney transplant, heart and brain surgery and many other complex operations and medical procedures. It must remain high so that many parents will realize that Nigerian schools, from nursery and primary to secondary and university also offer good quality education like the ones they spend billions on abroad, and if our schools do not, we’ll collectively try to fix them. It must go higher so that we can begin to focus inwards habitually as citizens of nation that is endowed abundantly by God to be blessing every other nation on earth, but yet live worse than beggars.

Ordinarily, if we were a producing nation, a weaker naira would have meant the best of times for us because we would earn more in foreign exchange. In fact, countries like India and China intentionally devalue their currency against the US dollar to boost exports, but as a dumping ground nation, we must feel the heat from the other side.

Since it is the average and poor Nigerians like me that are mostly affected, then we must learn to produce and consume those things that are imported into our country, no matter how little, for our own safety and survival. We must begin to have more fish ponds in our back yards and feed them with local feed. We must begin to have small gardens in our compounds to farm very basic vegetables imported into Nigeria. We must farm and eat our own rice, fruits, palm oil, ogbono, etc. We must make and buy our own shoes and bags, from local crafts men and women, we must buy our own clothes (especially pants and boxers) from local tailors, at all times, we must add value to them.

The times may be tough, but in my opinion the best approach is not to shout, wail and complain. The best approach will be to decide which of the issues you can handle or solve and to what extent and then begin from there.

Over N90 billion naira is spent on fish importation annually, how much of it do you want to produce? Over N70 billion naira is spent rice importation, how much rice can you farm? About N10 billion is spent on importing furniture, over N9 billion on clothes, N80 billion on milk, N1 billion on toothpicks, etc, how much of all these amounts do you want to earn from these products and more? More importantly, how much made in Nigeria products are you currently consuming, and how much will you consume before the year runs out?

The dollar must go higher and remain higher so that we can finally learn to eat, drink, dress, live and die Nigerian. The best solution is not barking on social media, it won’t bring down the price of pure water, produce and consume Nigerian goods and services, GBAM!!!

And the moral of this thread is.......?





Cheeeeeers

Epistle of saint Paul ...

FreemanDave thanks and its the Epistle of Buchi and not St. Paul. cheers too

FreemanDave:
Epistle of saint Paul ...

Domopps the moral of the story is use Nigerian Condom, do Nigerian girls and drink Nigerian beer. thanks

domopps:
And the moral of this thread is.......?
Cheeeeeers

God bless you my brother,

The dollar must go higher to 3500/$1 so nigerians can become real thinkers

I hate it wen people come to dis forum and create topics like dis.. .. OP... I wanna ask u sumtin.. . have u really produce sumtin locally for consumption... have u planted vegetables at d back of ur house... ma point is try to do wat ur advising us to do

Barapistis thanks

barapistis:
God bless you my brother,
The dollar must go higher to 3500/$1 so nigerians can become real thinkers

Omenti yes, i just started fish farming with 50 fingerlings, thanks for the comments. will you play your own crucial part soon?

omenti:
I hate it wen people come to dis forum and create topics like dis.. .. OP... I wanna ask u sumtin.. . have u really produce sumtin locally for consumption... have u planted vegetables at d back of ur house... ma point is try to do wat ur advising us to do

Rubbish, what do u mean dollar must go up. It is our naira that is falling, not dollar,
Our govt is the problem of this nation, imagine a 3rd world country like Nigeria has senators earning more than that of the United states.
even when we were producing back in the 70s was Nigeria any better.
Our leaders are the cause of the whole epistle.
our leaders have refuse to look into the agricultural sector, they have abadon this part.
and left it for village men and women for local production and wastage.
If the problem is importing, US is one of the most importing nations of the world, they import from china but they have the largest economy bigger than China an exporting nation.
If we cant get 12hours constant light in the country
If we still have ethnic differences, Religious crisis, Tribalism
If we still have poultry farms as schools
If we are still struggling with bad roads
if still have poor communication system

if our govt takes agric seriously not only will it serve as an export commodity but also as raw materials to produce the things you mentioned .

There is little or nothing anyone can do but so much for our govt to do.


Nigeria is problematic.
Iam not proud to be called a nigerian and can never be.

@Op summarize please.