Nelson A.Osuala[26 August 2016] 04:08AM
"Pres. Buhari has not come to terms with the economic realities of the day, as he has failed to combat economic challenges confronting the nation"
The foregoing statement is credited to the erstwhile Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN)Governor, Professor Charles Soludo, who in an economic summit argues that Mr President’s economic policies, since he assumed office over a year, is unarguably based on campaign promises.
Laying credence to our source,Prof. Soludo spoke regrettably during yesterday's Progressive Governors Forum’s which was the 4th Progressive Governance Lecture series with the theme
"Building The Economy Of States: Challenges Of Developing Inclusively-Sustainable Growth. The lecture was held yesterday, 25th of August, in Kaduna.
Prof.Soludo, who made a caricature of the economic policies of the present administration arguing that it is a mess! For him, 'Nigeria as a country is dealing with political, economic and social shocks'.
Below is an excerpt of his speech as culled from Vanguard Online news of Thursday 25th Aug,2016 published at 9:31 PM
It reads:
“Nigeria is facing unprecedented and tremendous political and economical challenges with global and local dynamics.
“Regardless of these challenges, opportunities and possibilities abound if we address some fundamental issues. The key to achieving this is to have a development plan that is anchored on realising inclusive and sustainable growth.
“Inclusive and sustainable growth cannot be achieved without conscious efforts to deconstruct the dynasties of poverty and maximise states and Nigeria’s comparative and competitive advantage.
“Nigeria is not secured and can be made politically sustainable through the de-strangulation of the hold of the Federal Government over states.
“I, therefore, recommend the restructuring of the economy from consumption-driven to production-based and consistency in micro-economic policies.
“Encouraging fiscal federalism in ways that allow states to have greater control of their resources, evolution of a master plan for mass export-oriented industrialisation that answers the economic questions and realities of today.
“…APC states should develop a peer review mechanism to track, measure and share knowledge, which will distinguish APC states from non-APC states.”
No no doubt, the above reflects what I am inclined to call 'The mess we are in!
We can only hope that the present administration takes conscious efforts and drastic measures at combating the socioeconomic and political imbroglio that has bedeviled our dear Country, Nigeria!
Nelson A. Osuala
Is a Blogger & the Associate Editor of negroidhaven.org
(negroidhaven)
