How can Nigeria come out of this recession? A lot of people have continued to proffer solutions to the Buhari-led federal government on how to end the economic recession. Here is a list of what some powerful Nigerians have said would help end the recession:
1.Atiku
Atiku Abubakar, the former vice president of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, at the Investiture Ceremony of the 9th President and chairman of council of the Chartered Institute of Stockbrokers which held at the Civic Centre, Ozumba Mbadiwe Street, Victoria Island, Lagos on September 29, said this was the best way to...
end the recession: “It is, therefore, clear that rather than praying for higher oil revenues, we should seize the current opportunity to get over our addiction to oil revenues.
“Discovering new oil wells in the north or south is no substitute. Government should look to sustainable sources of revenue, mainly taxes, duties and other levies. And it can only enlarge the tax base by encouraging diverse economic activities right across the country and investing in human capital development to produce the entrepreneurs, inventors and workers of the future.”
Speaking at the same event as Atiku Abubakar at the Civic Centre, Ozumba Mbadiwe Street, Victoria Island, Lagos on September 29, Tinubu said Nigeria is blessed with both human and natural resources, which it can properly harness to come out of the recession. The APC national leader also spoke on the significance of electricity in driving economic development, recalling how Lagos state invested in private power project during his time as governor.
2.Tinubu
Speaking at the same event as Atiku Abubakar at the Civic Centre, Ozumba Mbadiwe Street, Victoria Island, Lagos on September 29, Tinubu said Nigeria is blessed with both human and natural resources, which it can properly harness to come out of the recession. The APC national leader also spoke on the significance of electricity in driving economic development, recalling how Lagos state invested in private power project during his time as governor.
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3.Obasanjo
Former president Olusegun Obasanjo on Tuesday, September 27, while speaking in Abeokuta at the opening ceremony of the National Council On Finance and Economic Development Conference (NACOFED), stressed the need for Nigeria to borrow, spend less and earn more to get out of the current economic recession. According to the former president, the major problem with Nigeria is that “we are spending more than we are earning and we have not been able to save for the rainy day”. He then proffered this three-fold solution: borrowing, spending less and earning more to the economic challenges of the nation. He also said that funds were available outside the country, advised that Nigeria needed to approach its allies who could lend to the country on reasonable terms. Obasanjo stressed the need to develop agriculture, frowned at policies which tended to turn the nation into a dumping ground for other countries’ products. “I was shocked when the ban on importation of toothpick which we imposed in 1977 was lifted four years ago. How can a nation seeking to rank among the best in the world continue like that? “We must begin to do away with things that we can do without and if we must import them, let them attract very high duties,” he said. He also backed the sale of national assets, saying: “I do not see why 49 per cent of NNPC cannot be privatised. I think the problem is in the coinage “selling of asset” as if we want to throw out our inheritance. What we are actually doing by that is simply re-organizing.”
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4.Saraki
The embattled senate president, Bukola Saraki, gave the federal government some guidelines to end the recession in Abuja on Tuesday, September 27 in his welcome to mark the resumption of the Senate from a seven week recess. He advised the federal government to among other things put in place a pro-business leadership-level engagement platform with the private sector to boost market confidence in the economy. He also advised the government to raise money from sale of assets to shore up foreign reserves, calm investors and discourage currency speculation.
“The Federal Government should engage in meaningful dialogue with aggrieved militants in the Niger Delta and avoid an escalation of the conflict in the region. “The National Assembly is very ready to play any role in the process. The Federal Government must consider tweaking the pension funds policy within international best practice safeguards to accommodate investment in infrastructure and mortgages. “The government and the Central Bank of Nigeria must agree on a policy of monetary easing to stimulate the economy and harmonise monetary and fiscal policy until economic recovery is attained.
“The Federal Government must retool its export promotion policy scheme with export incentives such as the resumption of the Export Expansion Grant (EEG) and introduce export financing initiatives.”
Saraki also said that it was pertinent that immediate, medium and long-term strategies were devised to ease the suffering of Nigerians especially those in the internally displaced persons camps. He then called on the lawmakers to play their own parts in the area of legislation to ensure that relevant laws were passed, saying: “We must ensure the passage of the Petroleum Industry Bill as soon as possible to stimulate new investment and boost oil revenue. “As we all know, this bill is long in waiting and is very crucial for vital investment in the oil and gas sector. We will immediately begin the process of accelerating bills aimed at reforming the sub-sector for growth and accessibility. We must also explore the possibility of backing certain key government policies with legislation.
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5.Dangote
Africa’s richest man and chairman of the Dangote group, Aliko Dangote, has enumerated ways Nigeria can come out of the current recession ravaging the economy during an interview with CNBC Africa. He urged the federal government to sell off the Nigerian Liquified Natural Gas company (NLNG), and other dormant but huge capital-generating sectors in the country. He also stressed that the proceeds generated from the sales should be invested back into the economy before the end of the fourth quarter. Advocating the diversification of the economy, he said: “The only way for us to get out of this recession is to make sure we move into action quickly; action by diversifying the economy quickly. If I had challenges in my company, I would not hesitate to sell assets, to remain afloat, to get to the better times, because it doesn’t make any sense for me to keep any assets and then suffocate the whole organisation.
“What we need to do now in my own thinking… we have a lot of assets to sell. We can sell part of the joint venture; part of the shares. You know government normally owns 60 percent. “We can sell in an open tender be it Chinese. We can change the term and make it an operating one, just like what we have in NLNG. We also have another asset I think we don’t really need. “You will not believe that the crisis that we have today, if we have $15 billion, adding it to our $25 billion, that is $40 billion reserves. That will give confidence, confidence will come back, then government will back it up with proper economic policy, where people can see the roadmap.”
6.Melaye
Senator Dino Melaye, the chairman of the Senate committee on Federal Capital Territory (FCT), has proffered some really drastic measures to bring Nigeria out of the recession. On Sunday, September 4, he said the way to stop the recession was that the Minister of Finance, Kemi Adeosun; Minister of Budget and National Planning, Senator Udo Udoma; and the governor of the CBN, Godwin Emefiele be sacked over the country’s economic situation. The controversial Senator said: “At the moment, it must be crystal clear to all discerning minds that the President’s widely-acclaimed magical body language has lost its presumed aura and efficacy. His no-nonsense demeanor is equally neither instilling fear nor commanding respect and loyalty from among his cabinet members. “It is therefore obvious that the time for barking is over; now is the time to bite and boot out all those who have demonstrated, in the past several months, a crass lack of capacity to effectively carry out the functions of their office.”
7.Olisa
Mr Olisa Agbakoba, the former president of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) has stated that the oil price shock contributed mainly to the downward spiral in the economy which resulted in the present recession. In a statement he signed and issued to journalists on September 16, he painted a gloomy picture of the country’s economic situation which he said if not treated with urgency by introducing strong fiscal, trade and monetary policy could lead to depression. The statement says in part:“We know that Nigeria has experienced mismanagement for several decades but now is not the time to lament but to chart a clear economic policy direction that will give value to the economy. “This will entail developing macroeconomic models tailored to stimulate all sectors of the economy and catapulting us out of recession. “On the issue of monetary policy, there is a lot of confusion. There is the need for harmonisation between Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) policy which is leaning towards tight liquidity in a bid to harness inflation and the Minister of Finance call for increased public spending on capital projects.” He also noted that that CBN has increased the Monetary Policy Rate (MPR) by 200 basis points from 12 per cent to 14 per cent to combat inflation and stimulate growth. “The MPR is the anchor rate at which the CBN, in performing its role as lender of last resort, lends to deposit banks to boost the level of liquidity in the banking system. “If the apex bank intends to increase the level of liquidity in the economy, it reduces the MPR but increases it when it intends to tighten money supply. “By increasing MPR, CBN has unfortunately tightened lending. The banking sector requires strengthening and must be empowered to lend. I recommend that money from the Treasury Single Account (TSA) should go back to the banks at single digit rates and that banks’ recommended lending rate should not exceed 5 percent,” he said. Whose advice Buhari will heed is yet to be clear.
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