At a meeting called at his instance on Thursday to address the foreign exchange crisis and the problem of economic downturn, among others, Bola Tinubu failed, yet again, to showcase any concrete policy steps that his administration is taking to contain the crises of currency fluctuation and poverty that face the country.

Rather, he told the country and experts who have been offering ideas on how to resolve the crisis that he and his team should not be distracted and allowed time to continue cooking their cocktail that has brought untold hardship to the people of Nigeria.

I don’t agree with that.
The wrong policies of the Tinubu administration continue to cause untold pain and distress on the economy and the rest of us cannot keep quiet when, clearly, the government has demonstrated sufficient poverty of ideas to redeem the situation.

If the government will not hold on to their usual hubris, there are ways that the country can walk out of the current crisis.

After a careful assessment of the state of our economy at the twilights of the last administration, I knew full well that the economy of the country was heading for the ditch and came up with a number of policy prescriptions that would rescue the country from getting into the mess that we are currently in.

Those ideas, encapsulated in my policy document titled: My Covenant With Nigerians made the following prescriptions:

1. I had signed on to a commitment to reform the operation of the foreign exchange market. Specifically, there was a commitment to eliminate multiple exchange rate windows. The system only served to enrich opportunists, rent-seekers, middlemen, arbitrageurs, and fraudsters.

2. A fixed exchange rate system would be out of the question. First, it would not be in line with our philosophy of running an open, private sector friendly economy. Secondly, operating a successful fixed-exchange rate system would require sufficient FX reserves to defend the domestic currency at all times. But as is well known, Nigeria’s major challenge is the persistent FX illiquidity occasioned by limited foreign exchange inflows to the country. Without sufficient FX reserves, confidence in the Nigerian economy will remain low, and Naira will remain under pressure. The economy will have no firepower to support its currency. Besides, a fixed-exchange rate system is akin to running a subsidy regime!

3. On the other hand, given Nigeria’s underlying economic conditions, adopting a floating exchange rate system would be an overkill. We would have encouraged the Central Bank of Nigeria to adopt a gradualist approach to FX management. A managed-floating system would have been a preferred option. In simple terms, in such a system, the Naira may fluctuate daily, but the CBN will step in to control and stabilize its value. Such control will be exercised judiciously and responsibly, especially to curve speculative activities.

4. Why control, you may ask.

(i). Nigeria has insufficient, unstable, and precarious foreign reserves to support a free-floating rate regime. Nigeria’s reserves did not have enough foreign exchange that can be sold freely at fair market prices during crises.

(ii). Nigeria is not earning enough US$ from its sales of crude oil because its production of oil has been declining. And,

(iii). Nigeria is not attracting foreign investment in appreciable quantities.

These are enough reasons for Nigeria to seek to have a greater control of the market, at least in the short to medium term when convergence is expected to be achieved.

Tinubu’s new policy FX management policy was hurriedly put together without proper plans and consultations with stakeholders. The government failed to anticipate or downplayed the potential and real negative consequences of its actions.

The Government did not allow the CBN the independence to design and implement a sound FX Management Policy that would have dealt with such issues as increasing liquidity, curtailing/regulating demand, dealing with FX backlogs and rate convergence.

I firmly believe that if and when the Government is ready to open itself to sound counsels, as well as control internal bleedings occasioned by corruption and poorly negotiated foreign loans, the Nigerian economy would begin to find a footing again. -AA

At a meeting called at his instance on Thursday to address the foreign exchange crisis and the problem of economic downturn, among others, Bola Tinubu failed, yet again, to showcase any concrete policy steps that his administration is taking to contain the crises of currency fluctuation and poverty that face the country.

Rather, Tinubu told the country and experts who have been offering ideas on how to resolve the crisis that he and his team should not be distracted and allowed time to continue cooking their cocktail that has brought untold hardship to the people of Nigeria.

Sangoamadioha1:
Now that is opposition. Atiku try for this one, not like that one that just whips up sentiments with useless mantra like 'consumption economy to production economy 😏

Sangoamadioha1:
Now that is opposition. Atiku try for this one, not like that one that just whips up sentiments with useless mantra like 'consumption economy to production economy 😏

Sangoamadioha1:
Now that is opposition. Atiku try for this one, not like that one that just whips up sentiments with useless mantra like 'consumption economy to production economy 😏

Difrent:


Was surprised at the sound argument canvassed .
AA really serious this time around unlike in the past when he will just run to Dubai

magoo10:
I firmly believe that if and when the Government is ready to open itself to sound counsels, as well as control internal bleedings occasioned by corruption and poorly negotiated foreign loans, the Nigerian economy would begin to find a footing again. -AA

It will be easy for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for tinubu to fight the bolded.
Most of his backers and praise singers are swimming in it and this is where the problem lies today.

Sangoamadioha1:
Now that is opposition. Atiku try for this one, not like that one that just whips up sentiments with useless mantra like 'consumption economy to production economy 😏

Godfullsam:


Corruption can not fight corruption. Until we have a leader who can fight corruption head-on, we will just be beating around the bush.

The root cause of all our problems can be traced to corruption.

APOPTOSIS:
I'm highly elated he floated it.
He should Float more.
Sometimes, some things are just blessing in disguise waiting to be tapped. He's fast creating more Billionaires

onatisi:
atiku has been presenting credible economic plans for the nation for the past 15 years, but the fake stories obj peddled about him won't even allow people to hear him out or listen to him,
when he made mention of selling the refineries, many people APC started shouting that Atiku is a thief, balabu. Now Tinubu has spent about 3b repairing the refineries and they are still not working, now fg is contemplating selling the refineries, what a waste of public funds.

Sangoamadioha1:
Now that is opposition. Atiku try for this one, not like that one that just whips up sentiments with useless mantra like 'consumption economy to production economy 😏

Nice2023:



U don't know what moving from consumption to productions means, that is why u will keep hating Obi.

How can u vote for a man who said he never believed in Nigeria?

A man who said,he will ensure he shrink the purchasing power of the people, and he never stopped there.

He equally promised that,he would widen the tax net to further impoverish the People.

Here u are comparing Obi with Atiku.

GeneralDae:

The bolded are just lies. You can criticize without pushing propaganda.

GeneralDae:

If you don't repair the refineries, how do you get good price for it when you want to sell it?

Sangoamadioha1:
Now that is opposition. Atiku try for this one, not like that one that just whips up sentiments with useless mantra like 'consumption economy to production economy 😏