Fakoyejo OlalekanFormer Nigerian Senator, Ben Murray-Bruce, has stated that some people need to be held responsible for Nigeria’s declining economy. The ex-bayelsa lawmaker said this following significant rise in cost of living.
What you need to know
Recall that prior to President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration, inflation was 8.5% as of March 2015, fast forward to seven years of his tenure, it has risen to 18.6%.
This has made many families in Nigeria poor, as the struggle with hike in prices of food, fuel, air, land and water transportation, amongst others – all of which have been driving the cost of living in Nigeria high.
Due to the economic situation in the most populous black nation in Africa, the World Bank projected that the number of poor people in the country will hit 95.1 million in 2022.
This year alone, over five million Nigerians are expected to become poor, with the extremely poor families living on $1 per day, according to the National Bureau of Statistics, (NBS) in 2020.
Currently, Nigeria is the second country with the highest extremely poor people, based on report by World Poverty Clock, which monitors poverty rate and development growth. In 2018, Nigeria was the poverty capital of the world before falling behind India.
Ben Murray-Bruce wants some people jailed for destroying Nigeria’s economy
Reacting to Nigeria’s deteriorating economic state on Friday, via his Twitter account, Murray-Bruce said some people are sabotaging the economy, and they should be jailed for destroying it.
He said businesses can no longer plan due to several factors beyond their control, as its either sudden fuel hike, or falling naira. Recall that recently, the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited, had increased fuel price to above N175 from N165.
According to him, part of the problem is some people are siphoning forex, “All those destroying our economy should go to jail for economic sabotage. We are currently at a point where businesses in Nigeria cannot plan.
“It’s either rising fuel/diesel costs, a free-falling Naira, or one issue to another. Meanwhile, people in power are either round-tripping forex or simply siphoning the same.” Murray-Bruce wrote.
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