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By KEHINDE AKINPELU, ILORIN
A financial expert, Senator Rafiu Adebayo Ibrahim,has recommended that having an economy that not tied to the price of one product, prone to wild price swings, is an obvious solution to habitual devaluation of Naira.
A former Chairman, Senate Committee on Banking Insurance and other Financial Institutions, said this in a paper he delivered at the 30th edition of Media parliament, courtesy of Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) Kwara Council at the Press Centre, Ilorin.
Senator Rafiu, who talked on the topic, “Naira devaluation by Central Bank of Nigeria: How did we get here? What are the challenges and prospects for us as a Nation”, traced the history of devaluation of the naira in Nigeria to 1986 when General Ibrahim Babangida took over the leadership of Nigeria government through a coup.
“Since the beginning of General Babangida administration, and for 35 years now, the Nigerian naira’s relationship with the US dollar (and other foreign currencies),referred to as the exchange rate, has been erratic, unpredictable, violent and full of heartbreak and tears.
“I must quickly add, however, that the built-in dysfunction has also made a lot of people very rich, and the nation poorer,”he said.
The expert also recommended that “people in the position of authority and corridor of power must allow economics to rule and reign, when it comes to the naira exchange rate, by allowing the market to determine its fair value at the time of boom and otherwise.”
He also called on the federal government to take economic diversification serious.
“It is time to diversify the economy under a truly, long-term strategic plan that will turn around the fortunes of the nation away from being mono-product as is presently the case.
“Industrialization and local production of goods in high demand must be encouraged, and more importantly, insecurity eating deep into the economic life of the nation, as the devastating effects of the situation if unattended to, will make the value of the nation’s currency worse than we all can imagine,”he added.
He, also advised all tiers of government to imbibe habit of savings.
He further said,”Even as an individual, when you consume all your income and fail to save, you will be feeding from hand to mouth and will always be vulnerable anytime that there is drought, because you have no savings to fall back on.”
Earlier in his address of welcome, the Chairman, the chairman of the council,‘Lanre Ahmed, callec on the Central Bank of Nigeria(CBN) to go back on the drawing board with a view to checking its policy on
the nation’s monetary policy.
According to him, the summersault in the policy had consistently weakened naira in the global economy and in turn, affecting the purchasing power of the masses.
