OPEN LETTER TO GODWIN EMEFIELE CBN GOVERNOR

GODWIN EMEFIELE THE BANE OF NIGERIAN ECONOMY

Let us go into the nitty gritty of this letter without dilly dally.

The Nigerian economy under the current CBN governor have suffered abysmally in terms of growth, standard of living and cost of living all emanating from his snowball ability to incessantly devalue the Nigerian naira.
I know some economists would argue vaguely that he did it under the directive of President Buhari but we all know that the CBN is an autonomous institution and thus acts independently.

This his jaundiced inclination to devalue our naira as seen in him devaluing it from (160 to 360 and now recently which he calls multiplicatives from 360 to 380 to a dollar) is highly sickening and unpatriotic.

Unpatriotic in the sense that he is suppose to pilot the affairs of the CBN while putting Nigerian interest first instead of listening and implementing any iota of devaluation advice been spoonfed him by the IMF, World Bank et al.

I would say he just came in and spoilt the successes of his predecessors Prof. Soludo (who tried to revalue/appreciate our naira by reintroducing coins which didn't pull through due to its poor general acceptability) and Sanusi Lamido, for them devaluation was never an option, plus because they know when you devalue it is hard to revalue.

Going forward, his policies have greatly affected Nigerians badly in that what we could get in the market at lesser is now worth more than twice it's worth, thus low standard of living and high cost of living because the naira has lost its value and can't vie internationally.

Furthermore, his unsavoury regulation and control of FOREX in particular the dollar is nothing to write home about, because he now plays second fidel to the Bureau De Change.

Yes, the invisible hand of demand and supply would drive the price of the dollar but the CBN still retains ne plus ultra jurisdiction in its pricing, regulation and control. And to my sheer surprise the CBN is playing a second fidel in this role, in that, more percentage of the dollar is issued to the Bureau De Change making them have more control over the dollar pricing instead of issuing more percentages to the commercial banks that can follow and obey special directives (unlike the Bureau De Change) in their pricing and allowing greater allocations for Form Q so that businesses can get their dollar and its pricing from the CBN thus boosting businesses and the economy at large. Because if this is done the positive trickle down effect will be great in that it will translate into lower cost of goods sold domestically, low cost of living, and increase in the standard of living, and might just be what will revive the Nigerian economy once more.

Finally, I would implore the CBN governor to stop being obsequious to the IMF, World Bank, et al in matters bordering on devaluation and the Nigerian economy in all ramifications and be more patriotic and put Nigeria and Nigerians interests and welfare first in all its doings. So that Nigerians from all walks of life will feel the positive impact of his office and the institution he sire.

We need positive change.

Great policy makers.....Great.


From a very concerned Nigerian.

AUGUSTINE