₦airaland Forum

Ttalk:
Can you tell us where we would see forex to import? Currently with restriction Nigeria doesn't have enough forex even after depletion of our reserves, what happens when demand for forex increases as result of removal of restrictions.?

What is the value of increase in import tax compared to scarcity of forex?

Are the youths supporting this killer idea truly Nigerian youth? Will these sets of people become leaders in year to come?

You're getting it all wrong. What do you think is the major reason for forex scarcity in Nigeria? Simple, due to lack of exports!

I don't think Peter Obi will implement the removal of import restrictions as his first policy on assuming office. From what he stated last time about oil producing areas, he obviously has plans to stop oil theft and ensure Nigeria maximizes its full oil production and exports. Once our oil exports return to normal like anything close to 2mbpd, pressure on dollar will reduce since we will be able to shore up our reserves. Importation of refined petroleum takes a huge portion of our forex, hopefully Dangote refinery will come on stream soon.

Are you aware that when ships bring imports, they would also want to take exports to avoid running at a loss? So, when more ships are coming to Nigeria, it would make our exports cheaper too.

Again, how is mere rhetoric on import restrictions by government helped? Has it stopped those goods from entering Nigeria? No! Have it stopped importers from seeking forex from the black market to import them? No! That policy is only helping the economy of Togo and Benin republic! It's only helping corrupt customs personnel to enrich themselves at the expense of Nigerians.

JoeNL22:
Nigeria doesn't have the capacity to export.
Until den we can continue to import till we create a system for exportation.

I'll gladly vote for obi if and only if I am 99% convinced that he will channel his energy into the creation of a system with capacity for export of Nigerian foods, raw materials, finished products etc with restrictions on export of crude oil alone.

But with this his bias for importation which only favours Igbo traders,
Obi is a no no for a presidential candidate talk less of winning election as president of Nigeria

JoeNL22:
Nigeria doesn't have the capacity to export.
Until den we can continue to import till we create a system for exportation.

We can't create a system for exportation if we continue with this crazy importation trend. No country has pulled that feat. No one in history. Once you depend heavily on others, you are doomed.

Look at Venezuela and Iran. Both are under heavy sanctions but one is crumbling faster because from the get go, they sold crude oil and imported basically everything. The moment sanctions came knocking, they crumbled.

We need to enforce more restrictions and support local investors. For us to defeat poverty, we must learn to create more value. Presently, the minorities are the ones feeding the country, without the sale of crude oil, we all we have been eating our eyes. All thanks to our lazy and unproductive nature.

richidinho:


I see seunmsg asking to be substituted

Ofoigbo where are you now?

I copied him since the comment addressed the question he asked me on another thread.

Vote4Obi:
You're getting it all wrong. What do you think is the major reason for forex scarcity in Nigeria? Simple, due to lack of exports!

I don't think Peter Obi will implement the removal of import restrictions as his first policy on assuming office. From what he stated last time about oil producing areas, he obviously has plans to stop oil theft and ensure Nigeria maximizes its full oil production and exports. Once our oil exports return to normal like anything close to 2mbpd, pressure on dollar will reduce since we will be able to shore up our reserves. Importation of refined petroleum takes a huge portion of our forex, hopefully Dangote refinery will come on stream soon.

Are you aware that when ships bring imports, they would also want to take exports to avoid running at a loss? So, when more ships are coming to Nigeria, it would make our exports cheaper too.

Again, how is mere rhetoric on import restrictions by government helped? Has it stopped those goods from entering Nigeria? No! Have it stopped importers from seeking forex from the black market to import them? No! That policy is only helping the economy of Togo and Benin republic! It's only helping corrupt customs personnel to enrich themselves at the expense of Nigerians.

Seriously I didn't finish reading what you wrote the moment you said Nigeria will increase oil production..

This week OPEC championed the cut of Oil, I don't think Nigeria q
Quota will be up 2000mpd and you are saying revenue from oil will shore up our reserve and makes us have enough forex which will then translate to naira appreciation.

Even if our production capacity increases in oil, it won't translate to more money because quota restriction wouldn't allow the country sell more than her allocation.
So where is the return on the investment in the oil sector?

Nigeria is in a serious trouble and drastic and urgent measure is needed to make us survive the economic tsunami that is about to engulf the entire nation just because of our past lazy and import oriented mindset that is taking the country into economic abyss.

Seriously, I don't think it's worth my time debating with you on this subject. It's either you are just defending Obi's comment based on tribal sentiment you plain ignorant about the implication of Obi's container economic theory

Ttalk:
Seriously I didn't finish reading what you wrote the moment you said Nigeria will increase oil production..

This week OPEC championed the cut of Oil, I don't think Nigeria q
Quota will be up 2000mpd and you are saying revenue from oil will shore up our reserve and makes us have enough force which will then translate to naira appreciation.

Seriously, I don't think it's worth my time debating with you I'm this subject. It's either you just defending Obi's comment or you plain ignorant about the implication of Obi's container economic theory

Obi is a trader with only buy and sell theory leading to importation.

Please tell usPlease tell us...

Vote4Obi:
You're getting it all wrong. What do you think is the major reason for forex scarcity in Nigeria? Simple, due to lack of exports!

I’m glad you know this. So, how’s unrestricted importation the solution to lack of export? We are not exporting simply because we are not producing anything the rest of the world needs. We should be putting in policies to improve local production and not open our borders to unrestricted importation.

I don't think Peter Obi will implement the removal of import restrictions as his first policy on assuming office.

Peter Obi made it very clear in his tweet that he will remove restriction on importation. This is a major economic policy he intends to implement on day one.

From what he stated last time about oil producing areas, he obviously has plans to stop oil theft and ensure Nigeria maximizes its full oil production and exports. Once our oil exports return to normal like anything close to 2mbpd, pressure on dollar will reduce since we will be able to shore up our reserves. Importation of refined petroleum takes a huge portion of our forex, hopefully Dangote refinery will come on stream soon.

Let us even assume that OPEC quota becomes favorable next year and Obi magically fixed the crude oil theft that has been on for years and we found our way back to 2m daily production, so, the best thing to do is waste the increased forex earnings on massive unrestricted importation of just anything? Is this not the same wasteful nonsense we’ve been doing since the oil boom of the 70’s that got us to where we are today? Is this not the same practice that ruined our local manufacturing industry? Have you guys not learnt anything from our past wasteful spending? Why do you guys want to ruin this country for Godsake?

Are you aware that when ships bring imports, they would also want to take exports to avoid running at a loss? So, when more ships are coming to Nigeria, it would make our exports cheaper too.

Lol, what are we exporting? Over 60% of ships that bring things into Nigeria go back empty. So, how will increase in importation lead to increase in export when we are not producing anything the rest of the world needs?

Again, how is mere rhetoric on import restrictions by government helped? Has it stopped those goods from entering Nigeria? No! Have it stopped importers from seeking forex from the black market to import them? No! That policy is only helping the economy of Togo and Benin republic! It's only helping corrupt customs personnel to enrich themselves at the expense of Nigerians.

Rice farmers and millers, cement producers, juice producers (5alive, Chivita etc), vegetable oil producers etc are major beneficiaries of the current restriction policy. So much gains including jobs have been created along the value chain of these items.

Workch:
Just invest without corruption in the power sector then boom, you have resolved it.

By doing this, you have also empowered local producers. It's not rocket science.

How can a country that barely produces 5000mw place Import restrictions on products that needs power to produce?

Funny people with a funny government

" invest in power without corruption" is not a rocket science but virtual science talking as if Imagination solve governances' problems .Talking as if obi will soulonly Run the government . Oga ...Buharis virtual claims that brought backwards after he became president was even Brainlant than this you and your pay master claims . Do you know lefting ban on importation will encourage more importation bring high demand of Dollars which will make naira valueless and take Nigeria inflation to the highest level than the present situation? There is different between the knowledge of buy and selling and governance . Petty traders / importers are threats to the economy of a Nation if their activities are not given limitation / restrictions.

Efewestern:
We can't create a system for exportation if we continue with this crazy importation trend. No country has pulled that feat. No one in history. Once you depend heavily on others, you are doomed.

Look at Venezuela and Iran. Both are under heavy sanctions but one is crumbling faster because from the get go, they sold crude oil and imported basically everything. The moment sanctions came knocking, they crumbled.

We need to enforce more restrictions and support local investors. For us to defeat poverty, we must learn to create more value. Presently, the minorities are the ones feeding the country, without the sale of crude oil, we all we have been eating our eyes. All thanks to our lazy and unproductive nature.

No. It is not like that......the problem we have is the leaders are not setting up a system to create the exportation process. That's is the whole SUMMARY of peter obi's manifesto. He understands the problems plaguing Nigeria. The Buhari-led govt tried to stop imports entering the country. What is the result?
Hyper inflation of goods and services everywhere. When you create scarcity for a product. You automatically increase prices of that product. It is basic economics. Demand must meet supply. It is the same issue we have with rice. Before the restrictions in 2015 we where buying rice at 10k, 7yrs later with the restrictions we are buying the same quantity of rice at 40k. The price of rice has surpassed minimum wage. We can't continue like this. If we don't uplift the restrictions In 5 years time......we will buy the same quantity of rice at 120k. That is why we must allow imports and build our manufacturing industry at the same time. We don't export.....we don't allow imports. That's why our naira is suffering. We can't export. We don't want imports. No man is an Island on his own. The fire-brigade approach of Buhari is what is making the purchasing power of Nigerians very low. And if its low. Foreign investors can't come and sell their products. Who will buy it?.......America produce cars but yet they still allow foreign companies to bring their cars into their country. That is a system that works. We can do the same provided there is stable electricity, power, economy and currency. Obi truly understands Nigeria problems

femicyrus:
I'll gladly vote for obi if and only if I am 99% convinced that he will channel his energy into the creation of a system with capacity for export of Nigerian foods, raw materials, finished products etc with restrictions on export of crude oil alone.

But with this his bias for importation which only favours Igbo traders,
Obi is a no no for a presidential candidate talk less of winning election as president of Nigeria

He would create the system. That's why he wants to allow imports. He wants to reduce the pressure on the naira. Renowned economist with Ph.Ds' have applauded his ideas.....meaning he is moving in the right direction. The problem with our leaders is they don't have an idea or knowledge of what is plaguing Nigeria. But judging from obi's manifesto he has identified the problems and he has proffered solutions. At least......obi has opened himself up for criticism.......that's why he has been the most talked about politician in Nigeria. We are still waiting for Tinubu's manifesto, media interviews and debates on how he wants to move Nigeria forward.

JoeNL22:
No. It is not like that......the problem we have is the leaders are not setting up a system to create the exportation process. That's is the whole SUMMARY of peter obi's manifesto. He understands the problems plaguing Nigeria. The Buhari-led govt tried to stop imports entering the country. What is the result?
Hyper inflation of goods and services everywhere. When you create scarcity for a product. You automatically increase prices of that product. It is basic economics. Demand must meet supply. It is the same issue we have with rice. Before the restrictions in 2015 we where buying rice at 10k, 7yrs later with the restrictions we are buying the same quantity of rice at 40k. The price of rice has surpassed minimum wage. We can't continue like this. If we don't uplift the restrictions In 5 years time......we will buy the same quantity of rice at 120k. That is why we must allow imports and build our manufacturing industry at the same time. We don't export.....we don't allow imports. That's why our naira is suffering. We can't export. We don't want imports. No man is an Island on his own. The fire-brigade approach of Buhari is what is making the purchasing power of Nigerians very low. And if its low. Foreign investors can't come and sell their products. Who will buy it?.......America produce cars but yet they still allow foreign companies to bring their cars into their country. That is a system that works. We can do the same provided there is stable electricity, power, economy and currency. Obi truly understands Nigeria problems

Please don't use America as an example, no one protects local industries more that her. What did you think caused their trade war with china?

We should encourage the next government to improve on the aspects Buhari slacked and opening our country to massive importation will only worsen things. We are not making enough money from crude as we did 10years ago, our income is depleting yet our tastes for foreign products keeps increasing, this here is the reason for the hyper inflation and poor performance of the naira.

What we expect the next government to do is to look for ways to boost local production. Our farmers aren't producing enough rice to meet with the demands, what can we do to solve this problem? What are the challenges faced by local investors? How can we optimize production? These are the right questions to ask, not seeking to open the borders for more importations.

We have been doing this for decades and yet we kept growing poorer. What did you think killed the local industries that once existed in Nigeria in the 70's and 80's? Massive Importation is disastrous to us Africans and we must do everything to tame this lazy man's way of getting problem solved. It only has short term benefits but not long term.

If you remove Import Restrictions the Country would not develop it's Production , industrial base and Manufacturing it would just become a dumping ground for Countries like China

It was was because of Import Restrictions that Nigeria is now Producing Rice on the Scale that it is now doing

America Protected it's industries for years till they became international Juggernauts

Workch:
1. Rice, rice is cheaper to import than producing it in Nigeria.

2. Frozen food: it is expensive in Nigeria because there is no power to store them. It cost a lot in diesel to store them.

3. Plastic and rubber products: for obvious reasons, no power to manufacture these things here.
4 polypropylene granules: no power to manufacture.
4. Cellophane wrappers: no power, companies waste money buyuny diesel.

5. Soap and cosmetics.
6. Tomatoes/tomato pastes. Etc.

With the current realities of power, it's still cheaper to import these than producing then here. The inability of government to meet up with power demands of manufacturers is causing inflation in these products.

It's so so stupid to impose restrictions when you lack the capacity to produce them. It's increases cost of production.

A sane government will first make an environment to effectively reduce cost of production before removing restrictions, just like china did.

Only APC urchiins don't understand this simple economics.

Thank you. These guys just want to criticize anything just for the sake of criticizing. I don't know why they hate Nigeria this much.

adekolaelect:
" invest in power without corruption" is not a rocket science but virtual science talking as if Imagination solve governances' problems .Talking as if obi will soulonly Run the government . Oga ...Buharis virtual claims that brought backwards after he became president was even Brainlant than this you and your pay master claims . Do you know lefting ban on importation will encourage more importation bring high demand of Dollars which will make naira valueless and take Nigeria inflation to the highest level than the present situation? There is different between the knowledge of buy and selling and governance . Petty traders / importers are threats to the economy of a Nation if their activities are not given limitation / restrictions.

The bottom line remains simple, if you don't have the capacity yet to produce it, just import until you set up that capacity.

I don't know how that's an argument for APC urchiins

Efewestern:
Government should be encouraged to create an enabling environment for industries and factories to strive not this importation nonsense. There is no country in this world that would progress with this sick mentality.

Every stable country tightens what comes into her home. In US, local factories are protected by the government with heavy tariffs on rival products. They make it practically impossible for you to make profits importing what can be sourced locally. Read more about protectionism in the US and other developed countries.

We have no business importing Fuel, Soap, Tomatoes, Rice, Gas, Beans, Steel... What the hell is wrong with us? These things can be sourced locally for crying out loud.

Ooopsss, why are there no jobs in Nigeria?? Lol

You can stop importation when you have provide enabling environment for industries to strife. That's also sick.
You will collapse the economy by doing that. What every reasonable government does is to provide that environment before restrictions but APC does everything backwardly

femicyrus:
Why is it so difficult for Igbo traders/businessmen to face export of products from Nigeria to the world?
Why always import?
The day this people change their bias and wickedness of importation alone to include exports, that is when Nigeria will start experiencing a change in power, energy , infrastructure, taxation, bottlenecks etc problems causing inflation so as to make Nigerian product to compete favorably in the international market for us to earn more forex to make our currency very strong

Maybe because the cost of production is higher than the cost of importation because this failure of a government can provide steady power and cheap fuel by fixing refineries

seunmsg:
It is obvious you don’t even know what you’re talking about and I’m really wasting my time discussing with you.

Let me educate you a little, importation is not cheap. It is very expensive and we pay for it with our hard earned forex. Currently, our major export and forex earner is crude oil. Sadly, we barely produce about 1m barrels daily and this is not enough to meet our importation bills. As a result, we must produce some of the things we need locally in order to conserve forex for something more productive. Using forex to import rice, chicken, turkey, vegetable oil, canned drinks, bagged cement, plastics, foot wear etc is wasteful spending that will add nothing to the economy because we can produce all these things locally. In fact, it will lead to dumping and massive job loss.

all these doesn't make any sense until you provide power and fix the refineries. Until government does that, importation will be cheaper from China.
Again, the government is the biggest importer, they refuse to fix refineries and use huge some of forex to import refined petroleum products there by making forex scarce.
Until they stop that, we can't have enough capacity to produce anything. It will be cheaper to sort of China

The policy will erode the huge gains we’ve made in rice production, cement production, fruit juice production, poultry farming etc. We will only succeed in importing unemployment and inflation. And yes, these items will not be any cheaper because of the high taxes that will be imposed on them.

again, this will make sense only if you have power to produce anything else this is trash

Again, the effect on the Naira will be catastrophic. With current restrictions, CBN is struggling to defend the Naira. As at today, $1 now exchange for about N700. With unrestricted importation of just everything, we will start exchanging $1 to about N5,000 in less than a year of the implementation of the policy. That’s how bad and senseless the policy is.


What we need to do to revive the economy is to do everything possible to stop importation of refined fuel. Get Dangote refinery to start producing and revive the port harcourt refinery. In addition, encourage more modular refineries to come on stream. We must stop importing refined petroleum products as a first step to reviving the economy.

Once we achieve self sufficiency in petroleum products refining, we can then channel our forex savings to build the much needed infrastructures. Power, roads, rails, bridges, dams etc. Without these critical infrastructures, we cannot develop our local manufacturing sectors and without local manufacturing, we won’t get out of the current economic mess.

Cc: ofoigbo

more trash, just provide power before all these.

All your analysis can only make sense if there's capacity to produce. We don't have power, nothing here makes sense now

How can a country that can barely produce 5000mw be having import restrictions?
Where is the power to make all these your sweet talking work?
Does that even make any sense?

Quick solutions wouldn't fix Nigeria in the next 4 years. Do you realize that staffs would be laid off which would also add to the high unemployment rate.


I am not an economist but yes things are expensive but to some extent workers are still able to afford them now imagine making things cheap but people aren't able to afford them due to being unemployed.


Nigeria manufacturing industry is growing we are now actually exporting than before imagine this industries closing down telling them you want to put the infrastructure in place first. Besides, Obi has said he would focus on Human development rather than infrastructure, so I wonder when these said infrastructure would be read in his first four years.

3ple9iner:
Quick solutions wouldn't fix Nigeria in the next 4 years. Do you realize that staffs would be laid off which would also add to the high unemployment rate.


I am not an economist but yes things are expensive but to some extent workers are still able to afford them now imagine making things cheap but people aren't able to afford them due to being unemployed.


Nigeria manufacturing industry is growing we are now actually exporting than before imagine this industries closing down telling them you want to put the infrastructure in place first. Besides, Obi has said he would focus on Human development rather than infrastructure, so I wonder when these said infrastructure would be read in his first four years.

so why do we have increased unemployment rate even with the restrictions?

Long story short, we should just do the same thing that killed our local industries and manufacturing sector.

Import all manner of rubbish and turn Nigeria once again into a 100% consumer economy instead of a manufacturing and export economy that produces, creates jobs, generates FX, and makes us self-sufficient.

I do understand that obi is dull and retarded and the man is only thinking about his own pocket and how to grow his pandora account and not what's best for Nigeria and the Nigerian workers, but this is another reason why this man should never be taken seriously, the average container importer and his igbo kind are short-sighted, they only think about immediate gains and their own pocket.

We banned rice and it turned us into the largest rice producer in Africa, but this clown wants us to kill our growing farming and rice industries, kill all the rice mills that are springing up all over Nigeria and the workers, and let Thailand once again control our rice and dietary needs.

Flood the country with imported tomato products and kill the tomato farms, the workers and the advancements we've made in farming.


Well, thank God this clown will never rule Nigeria, so no worries.

plaindealer:
Long story short, we should just do the same thing that killed our local industries and manufacturing sector.

Import all manner of rubbish and turn Nigeria once again into a 100% consumer economy instead of a manufacturing and export economy that produces, creates jobs, generates FX, and makes us self-sufficient.

I do understand that obi is dull and retarded and the man is only thinking about his own pocket and how to grow his pandora account and not what's best for Nigeria and the Nigerian workers, but this is another reason why this man should never be taken seriously, the average container importer and his igbo kind are short-sighted, they only think about immediate gains and their own pocket.

We banned rice and it turned us into the largest rice producer in Africa, but this clown wants us to kill our growing farming and rice industries, kill all the rice mills that are springing up all over Nigeria and the workers, and let Thailand once again control our rice and dietary needs.

Flood the country with imported tomato products and kill the tomato farms, the workers and the advancements we've made in farming.


Well, thank God this clown will never rule Nigeria, so no worries.

but the local industries are still closing and not doing well eveb the restrictions, why?

seunmsg:
Lol. Every Tom, Dick and Obi now has an opinion on how to easily fix the economy. Just lift import restriction on restricted items and boooooom, the economy will start flying.

If tomorrow Tinubu support the removal of import restrictions you'll give a million reasons why he's correct.

Senior urchinson. I hail oo.

Workch:
Removing import restrictions immediately solves inflation problems in the short term.
It's totally stupid to restrict import without power. Only APC can do that

Everything so nice, when I’m dreaming.

Tenses:
If tomorrow Tinubu support the removal of import restrictions you'll give a million reasons why he's correct.

Senior urchinson. I hail oo.

Ok to Obidient Mumurist like you, Peter Obi is telling us something that likes of Wale Tinubu, Godwin Emefiele, Soludo & Co don’t know?

Peter Obi the messiah is the only person that knows about import duty restrictions or tariffs?

Senseless wanna be Zoo President supporters.

Buckeyemedia1:
Everything so nice, when I’m dreaming.

Everything is scary in the current nightmare of import restrictions without addressing refineries and power problems

seunmsg:
Good. We are now making progress. So, once we start importing rice, juice, soap, plastic, foot wears and bagged cements, inflation will disappear from our country? Like seriously? You think inflation is a joke that can be fixed by just lifting import restriction on few banned items?

Now, let’s get serious and stop the jokes. You guys are saying we should remove the restriction on the importation of these items, where exactly are we going to get forex to pay for these imports considering we are currently struggling to meet our import bills even with the restrictions?

Again, Nigerians have a very high taste for foreign products as it depicts class and affluence. How will local producers of these items compete? When rice farmers and poultry owners start losing their market to imported products, what do you think will happen to the jobs in these sectors?

I don't even take seriously anymore. I think most of them are jokers.

Tenses:
If tomorrow Tinubu support the removal of import restrictions you'll give a million reasons why he's correct.

Senior urchinson. I hail oo.

Some of us are not built that way. I have criticized Buhari severally despite supporting APC. Unrestricted importation in the face of dwindling forex will do us no good. In about a year, $1 will exchange for N5k. It’s a no brainer, buddy. This is not even about party politics but Nigeria. I can assure you Peter Obi won’t try it if Nigeria is unfortunate to have him as president.

seunmsg:
Some of us are not built that way. I have criticized Buhari severally despite supporting APC. Unrestricted importation in the face of dwindling forex will do us no good. In about a year, $1 will exchange for N5k. It’s a no brainer, buddy. This is not even about party politics but Nigeria. I can assure you Peter Obi won’t try it if Nigeria is unfortunate to have him as president.

You only criticized Buhari once or twice. There is nothing several about your criticism. As a matter of fact, it has become a habit for you to avoid any topic regarding Bubu's ineptude like a plague.
By the way, Kadoso Mutairu!

SpecialAdviser:
But APC Supporters should be ashamed criticizing this idea. Their import restrictions and wasteful spendings killed the economy and made them borrowers yet they never learnt a lesson. SHAME!!!

You mind these senseless and irredeemably stupid people.

Workch:
so why do we have increased unemployment rate even with the restrictions?

Because there are not enough industries/jobs to cater for us. That is why any action that would make any local industry to close down should be kicked against if not a calamity would befall us.

Ttalk:
Can you tell us where we would see forex to import? Currently with restriction Nigeria doesn't have enough forex even after depletion of our reserves, what happens when demand for forex increases as result of removal of restrictions.?

What is the value of increase in import tax compared to scarcity of forex?

Are the youths supporting this killer idea truly Nigerian youth? Will these sets of people become leaders in year to come?

This question you are asking, even you know is not sensible.
All the goods nigerians has been importing since the restrictions where are they getting their forex.

Today we still have as many foreign rice in circulation as it was in 2015 ...so where are the impoters of these goods getting their forex.

Urchins says peter obi is an importer, today his business is still booming, he is still importing those same goods that were restricted. Go to shoprite you'll see almost all the restricted products there, no who are 5GE people giving all these importers forex?