Nigerians who are simple are continually sold on the lies that our economic woes are tied to an imbalance between a demand, caused largely by the insatiable desire of Nigerians for foreign finished products and the perfunctory attempt by the government to meet its supply.
My sincere hope is that this post eliminates ignorance and feeds your curiosity.
This short edit is also borne out of the personal disdain that I’ve got with the expression ‘Nigerians are dollar hungry’.

Side note-Nigerians as far back as a century ago have always enjoyed finished products. By the virtue of our colonial masters, which were at that time the worlds most advanced civilization, and they brought with them refined products which many Nigerians got accustomed to. Today there are talks about returning to local consumables without due diligence as to its standard of quality and it is expected that this reversal is welcomed and adopted with ease. This a discussion for another day.

What is the true demand for USD in Nigeria?

I’ll be making a comparative study with the kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
Nigeria is a country that is poor by all economic definitions, and as such purchases most of its consumer items from countries like China and India. We have no luxury stores or malls in Nigeria. To make it very simple how many Bugattis or lambos are in Nigeria, less than 100 across states combined.
Does Nigeria have football clubs where players earn in millions of dollars monthly? In comparison, KSA or the UAE actually have a higher demand for USD. The Arabs are also very flamboyant in their lifestyle and wouldn’t lessen it for anyone or reason. Have this in mind as we proceed.

Can the CBN publish the true forex demand and supply report?

A summary of the official channels of forex transactions should be published (form A, form M and other instruments), this should be tabulated against our oil revenues (since this is currently our largest source of forex, note that we still have revenues from minerals, royalty, foreign remittances and other commodities exports). I believe only about 5% of Nigerian population actually have direct demand for USD, and I believe the value is politicized to deceive the populace. Nigeria through oil revenues can meet its forex demand if transparency is applied. If you say it’s impossible, then continue reading…
Nigeria exports between 1.5-2 million barrels of crude oil per day, KSA does between 5-6 Mn barrels per day.
Nigeria’s foreign reserve is estimated 30 billion USD,
KSA is 414 Bn USD
Naira to USD (900 official rate)
Riyals to USD (3.5 official rate)

Government spending KSA $330 bn USD 2023
Government spending Nigeria $47 bn USD 2023

Elementary mathematics, if our oil revenues are 40% of that of KSA, why is government spending about 15% where is the rest of the money. We should at least do 30-35% of the value of government spending in comparison to KSA.
We have no business with poverty! We may not be as rich as KSA but the Naira shouldn’t trade as low as it currently is.

Our population is more? What government schemes have benefited you as a Nigerian? What is free for you as a Nigerian?
The value of social investment by KSA (a country that doesn’t tax as high as Nigeria) dwarfs whatever social/ human capital investment Nigerian may have. From free education and healthcare, to pension for all Saudi both in the private and public secta.

https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SH.XPD.CHEX.PC.CD?locations=SA

We need to produce more, oil isn’t enough!

I ask this question. What is the export portfolio of KSA, or UAE how many consumer products are made in Saudi?
Nigerians must understand that supply of USD is majorly the job of the government and in layman terms, consistent supply is the reason why any foreigner would bring their hard earned cash to Nigeria. Pilgrimage does this for KSA, trade, tourism, sports, technology, amongst other.(https://www.vision2030.gov.sa/en/vision-2030/vrp/public-investment-fund-program/)

How has the Nigerian government made the country attractive for foreign investment or supply? is it in terms of Security? Agriculture? Transportation? Technology? Electricity? Manufacturing? E-commerce? Cyber security? Freight?

In summary, the math doesn’t add up especially after subsidy removal.
All our refineries (excluding Dangote’s) should’ve been up and running in 6 months of the new administration.

THERE IS A LEAK PEOPLE AND I REPEAT THE MINISTER OF PETROLEUM RESOURCES, NNPC DIRECTOR AND CBN GOVERNOR SHOULD BE ARRESTED FOR STEALING AND MISMANAGING THE COMMONWEALTH OF NIGERIANS.

Just imagine if Aramco claimed oil was being stolen in Saudi Arabia?
Nigerians need a sincere and transparent foundation if we’re ever to grow.

Happy New Year!!!

Saudi has 36million population approx. and Nigeria has over 200million citizens.. Our population is like x6 of their own population and there oil export is like x3 of ours.. Pilgrimage also is a very huge source of dollars for them and to cap it all our politicians steal to keep this dollar in foreign countries while their steal to keep within the country.. The indices is there and supple and and demand never lies..

hegelian:
Saudi has 36million population approx. and Nigeria has over 200million citizens.. Our population is like x6 of their own population and there oil export is like x3 of ours.. Pilgrimage also is a very huge source of dollars for them and to cap it all our politicians steal to keep this dollar in foreign countries while their steal to keep within the country.. The indices is there and supple and and demand never lies..

Healthcare expenditure per capital in KSA is $1291, while the figure is $69 (debatable) in Nigeria.
https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SH.XPD.CHEX.PC.CD?locations=SA

Also I’m curious about the real figures of demand and supply, (from MDAs, commercial banks etc). Please anyone who has this should share the link.
I’ve requested this from bankers but all I ever get is ‘it’s a lot’ and looked at the CBN website, the only figures there is NFEM
https://www.cbn.gov.ng/rates/exchratebycurrency.asp

As I mentioned earlier, we may not be as rich as KSA, but we have no business being this poor. Nigerians should know that our present quagmire is nothing short of government stealing.

Baxilexi:


Healthcare expenditure per capital in KSA is $1291, while the figure is $69 (debatable) in Nigeria.
https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SH.XPD.CHEX.PC.CD?locations=SA

Also I’m curious about the real figures of demand and supply, (from MDAs, commercial banks etc). Please anyone who has this should share the link.
I’ve requested this from bankers but all I ever get is ‘it’s a lot’ and looked at the CBN website, the only figures there is NFEM
https://www.cbn.gov.ng/rates/exchratebycurrency.asp

As I mentioned earlier, we may not be as rich as KSA, but we have no business being this poor. Nigerians should know that our present quagmire is nothing short of government stealing.

agreed we have no problem being poor but we can never be compared to KSA under all metrics (KSA aint our mate bro).. we are poor because we have wrong people in right places and the wrong people give bad leadership which inturn make the followers rotten and it goes down the hill from there...we dont take responsibilities, we rationalize all failures and we refuse to learn from history (bros do you know history is not even thought in any school??) no nation grow without acknowledging its history, learning from it, and growing from it.. we have refused to own our historical mistakes and make amends instead we hide and cover it up....growth and development is natural upshoot of several factors not just what you make and how you spend it....

Baxilexi:


Healthcare expenditure per capital in KSA is $1291, while the figure is $69 (debatable) in Nigeria.
https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SH.XPD.CHEX.PC.CD?locations=SA

Also I’m curious about the real figures of demand and supply, (from MDAs, commercial banks etc). Please anyone who has this should share the link.
I’ve requested this from bankers but all I ever get is ‘it’s a lot’ and looked at the CBN website, the only figures there is NFEM
https://www.cbn.gov.ng/rates/exchratebycurrency.asp

As I mentioned earlier, we may not be as rich as KSA, but we have no business being this poor. Nigerians should know that our present quagmire is nothing short of government stealing.

you and i know there is no way our per capital healthcare expenditure will be 69$ when our minimum wage is less than 30$ and the true minimum wage in the SMEs is far less than 20$...the 69$ is just a figment of FG and research group immgination...