Victor Ezeja
AdminPolitical Economy and management expert, Prof. Pat Utomi says he had advised the immediate past Governor of the Central Bank Of Nigeria (CBN), Godwin Emefiele not to focus his attention on fiscal policies but the then central banker had his own plans.
Prime Business Africa reports that while managing the monetary system is the remit of the central bank, the fiscal side of the economy is supposed to be superintended over by the Finance Minister. At the time the Professor was referencing Zainab Ahmed was the Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning.
Speaking when he featured on the Arise News Morning Show yesterday, Utomi pointed out that the President Olusegun Obasanjo government tried to create a proper market, “We went through a second tier foreign exchange market and eventually built up the market, and what happened?
READ ALSO:My Street Is Drained – Pat Utomi
The last central bank demolished that, just to allow some people to steal money. We are where we are and still surprised?” “I can say I publicly confronted Emefiele when he began to deal with fiscal policy and told him ‘That’s not your business,’ and he said ‘But no one is doing anything’,” he said, adding that if the current CBN governor, Yemi Cardoso is to succeed, he would have to take a more action focused approach rather than putting emphasis on speeches and promises.
The founder of the Centre for Values In Leadership harped on he need to build more confidence in the national value and suggested that cutting costs of policies that serve as bottlenecks to the system to help improve the national market and aid processes like the export system, to favour the citizens.
The recent decline in Naira since the announcement of the removal of subsidy by President Bola Tinubu on May 29th and the floating of the Naira mid-June caused the currency to lose 40 per cent of its value in the foreign exchange market.
This led to a rise in inflation as well as hardship for Nigerians who are grappling with soaring increase in the prices of goods and services. The Naira now closes at 1210 to a US Dollar.
Utomi maintained that if Tinubu as well as members of the National Assembly do not focus on more effective means to improve the nation’s value and save the national currency from further declining in the FX market, the country might just as well decline with it.
READ ALSO:Emefiele Resigns, Cardoso Assumes Office As Acting CBN Governor
According to him, “If people don’t see our national values, and commitments, rather than stealing our own, none of these will work.
“The political class has to get together and realise that their country is about to die. If Tinubu doesn’t recognize this, Nigeria will die. He doesn’t need a soothsayer. This is not business as usual.“
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