ON THE DEPRECIATION OF THE NIGERIAN NAIRA AGAINST THE US DOLLAR – A LOOK AT THE REAL ISSUES, WHO SHOULD BE HELD RESPONSIBLE, AND WHAT OUR GOVERNMENT MUST DO TO ADDRESS THE SITUATION
April 17, 2021 | News
With reports that the US Dollar has risen to N495, many Nigerians, including some of those in Government, have been complaining about the deplorable continuous depreciation of the Nigerian Naira, which has also adversely affected the standard of living of the majority of citizenry.
ON THE DEPRECIATION OF THE NIGERIAN NAIRA AGAINST THE US DOLLAR – A LOOK AT THE REAL ISSUES, WHO SHOULD BE HELD RESPONSIBLE, AND WHAT OUR GOVERNMENT MUST DO TO ADDRESS THE SITUATION
With reports that the US Dollar has risen to N495, many Nigerians, including some of those in Government, have been complaining about the deplorable continuous depreciation of the Nigerian Naira, which has also adversely affected the standard of living of the majority of citizenry. But I think a recent post online in this regard by one Oni Gbolabo, clearly painted the real issues behind all of this, and what we obviously need to do as a nation and people, if we must come out of the woods, of things getting worse more than they already are.
The write up noted the fact that we clearly do not have the right to complain about the depreciation of the Naira against the US Dollar because we have failed to address the real issues. Though, I disagree with the writer, Oni Gbolabo on the tone of the write-up, which sounded a bit political, when he stated that: “Appreciation and depreciation of currency is not related to race or color or who is the president, be it Hausa, Igbo or Yoruba. It is basically about production of goods and services and the demand of your products in the world market.” While I agree with this statement to some extent, but he failed to say it as it is. By noting the fact that it is the President, as the Number one Citizen and Commander-In-Chief of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, which presently is President Muhammadu Buhari, that should be seen to take responsibility, and held accountable and responsible, for whatever we see wrong in the nation’s economy which have resulted to the current severe depreciation of the Naira against the US Dollar.
Agreed that Nigeria has not developed one bit as it ought to, which is basically because the country’s past and present political leaders have been ‘comfortable’ with the fact that the country has remained a Consuming nation rather than a Productive nation. But the writer should nail the issue by calling out and mentioning those responsible for the present woes of the Naira, and not just ‘generalize’ the matter. Nigeria have always been a country that imports every consumable item from other country. But the question is, what has the current administration done to reverse this trajectory? Have they not made it worse since they came in? Right now, the country has been importing fuel from the Republic of Niger. A product that we have in abundance in reserves and which we can actually be the ones exporting to other nations if only our political leaders would do the right thing.
In other words, if the current President of Nigeria has refused to, or not willing to provide the ‘enabling environment’ for industries and the productive sector to strive, and for prospective investors to find attractive, then whose fault is it should the Nigerian currency continue to depreciate at an alarming rate? Who should take the responsibility of what is happening to the nation’s currency in the face of the US Dollar? Let us also be reminded that the current President of Nigeria is not new to the administration of this country, since he was once a Federal Commissioner for Petroleum, a former Military Head of State and now President for his second tenure in Government. Yet, we have not seen any improvement in all the sectors. Rather, things are going from bad to worse.
As noted by the said write-up by Oni Gbolabo: “A confused country (led by apparently a visionless President), that produces almost nothing, will never meet up. Policies only control your currency, not the value of another countries currency against yours.”
Other points noted by Gbolabo, which made sense, include: “A country where over 500 industries died within 30 years must be stupid to complain of depreciation of her currency. We keep killing local industries and expect policies to make it up, it's a joke sir. Don't use China as an example if depreciating currencies and strong economy, China produces and may attract more export with that strategy unlike Nigeria that produces nothing; A country where someone carried $2+billion simply to be shared is already a doomed one in terms of monetary policy and value…
“A country that exports all raw materials without adding value is shameless to talk of depreciation of currency. To later re-import finished products of that materials is the peak of daftness. A bag of cocoa will go for like N1 million Naira but when it is processed it will worth around N7million. Even farmers who produced raw cocoa can't buy chocolate; A country that deliberately operate banking system that gives loans to importers at the expense of local industries is doomed and should say nothing about depreciation. Most of the loans are given to senators and representatives not industrialists; A country that give loans in billions to the Agric sector without Monitoring & Evaluation of such loan on how it gets to the real farmers, is a sham. A guy collected over N2 billion Agric loan, he bought a jeep, built a nice house and use the rest to import processed pork. Meanwhile, local pork farmers are dying here. Is that not a double tragedy, stressing forex at the same time killing local industries?
“A country that spend more on few privileged politicians at the cost of the populace who are unemployed should not talk about money depreciation. A country that keeps paying NNPC staff N10 billion as salaries every month when a single drop of petrol was not processed should shut up about depreciation of currency. Crime is rising as value added to the initial failure; A country where it is difficult for investors to register businesses because of the government officials demanding for bribes. Right from airport, to hotel, to minister to governors’ - investors will bribe. All these are part of cost of investment. A friend brought an investor on estate development, just for the state commissioner in charge to demand 30% of the investment. To see the governor in a state will cost you N2 million as bribe before you can be scheduled. This is a state as poor as anything.
“A country where the cost of travelling for treatment abroad by officials will build world class hospitals should not talk about Naira against US Dollar parity. Money taken to that trip is part of stress on forex. Same as forex spent on pilgrimage. Let religion fanatics keep off me here. Without going to Mecca or Jerusalem you can still make heaven. You waste forex on pilgrimage, to later be talking rubbish about forex; A country where few people have access to federal reserve and those few can get loans are not because of what they can produce but the connection they have, is that country not gone already; A country where we import what we produce because it's cheaper over there is gone.
“A country that has arable land, teaming idle youths and still complain of hunger, should not talk about currency depreciation. It's annoying; A country where free money flows can never control inflow and outflow of forex. Imagine someone who wants to hide his loot, went to Aboki to buy Dollars’ worth $50 million just to hide it in the basement of his house. That money has no economic value. Yet, it deprived those companies that need it to import raw materials, those companies go to Aboki to buy at exorbitant price; A country where banks are involved in round tripping and inflated cost to siphon money is doomed. A company wants to import caterpillar worths $50,000. A bank made the forex $550,000 meanwhile no caterpillar was imported at last yet the money faded into private accounts. Who strain forex in that case?”
The bottom line is that President Buhari is the one at the driver’s seat of the country’s economic affairs and prospects. He alone, would first determine the vision and direction for this country, which others are expected to follow. And he should always lead by example. Nobody used a gun to force President Buhari to seek for the Office of the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. Now that he has been there as the President for about six years now, he should take responsibility for the failures recorded at the moment. And not looking for who and what to put the blame on. He should be the one to drive the entire nation. There should not be any excuse.
It is the duty of the executive governments - President and Governors, to provide the vision and direction of development by investing heavily in the provision of the necessary infrastructure and conducive atmosphere for industrial development. Where there are no reliable power supply, no security assurance due to the criminal activities of Boko Haram, Fulani herdsmen/Bandits, kidnappers, armed robbers, etc., no good Federal and State roads, no good standard airports (like the oil city of Warri has been without a standard and functional airport), no functional Sea Port across the regions where they are meant to be, and not just concentrated in Lagos; then one begins to wonder if really we have a Government in this country or not?
The President is the Commander-In-Chief and Number One Citizen of the country. It is his responsibility to provide a secured environment in every part of Nigeria. He was not forced by any person to contest to be elected President. And so, he should take responsibility of the depreciation of the Naira, and concentrate in providing good governance. Dr. Oni Gbolabi has not touched on the real issue with his write-up. BUHARI WAS ELECTED, AND SOUGHT TO BE ELECTED TO IMPROVE ON THE LIVES OF NIGERIANS. HE WAS ELECTED TO FIX NIGERIA AND NOT JUST GIVE EXCUSES. All the problems identified by Dr. Oni Gbolabo in the country should be fixed by President Buhari, towards having a strong currency in the global market.
Zik Gbemre.
April 17, 2021
We Mobilize Others To Fight For Individual Causes As If Those Were Our Causes
With reports that the US Dollar has risen to N495, many Nigerians, including some of those in Government, have been complaining about the deplorable continuous depreciation of the Nigerian Naira, which has also adversely affected the standard of living of the majority of citizenry. But I think a recent post online in this regard by one Oni Gbolabo, clearly painted the real issues behind all of this, and what we obviously need to do as a nation and people, if we must come out of the woods, of things getting worse more than they already are.
The write up noted the fact that we clearly do not have the right to complain about the depreciation of the Naira against the US Dollar because we have failed to address the real issues. Though, I disagree with the writer, Oni Gbolabo on the tone of the write-up, which sounded a bit political, when he stated that: “Appreciation and depreciation of currency is not related to race or color or who is the president, be it Hausa, Igbo or Yoruba. It is basically about production of goods and services and the demand of your products in the world market.” While I agree with this statement to some extent, but he failed to say it as it is. By noting the fact that it is the President, as the Number one Citizen and Commander-In-Chief of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, which presently is President Muhammadu Buhari, that should be seen to take responsibility, and held accountable and responsible, for whatever we see wrong in the nation’s economy which have resulted to the current severe depreciation of the Naira against the US Dollar.
Agreed that Nigeria has not developed one bit as it ought to, which is basically because the country’s past and present political leaders have been ‘comfortable’ with the fact that the country has remained a Consuming nation rather than a Productive nation. But the writer should nail the issue by calling out and mentioning those responsible for the present woes of the Naira, and not just ‘generalize’ the matter. Nigeria have always been a country that imports every consumable item from other country. But the question is, what has the current administration done to reverse this trajectory? Have they not made it worse since they came in? Right now, the country has been importing fuel from the Republic of Niger. A product that we have in abundance in reserves and which we can actually be the ones exporting to other nations if only our political leaders would do the right thing.
In other words, if the current President of Nigeria has refused to, or not willing to provide the ‘enabling environment’ for industries and the productive sector to strive, and for prospective investors to find attractive, then whose fault is it should the Nigerian currency continue to depreciate at an alarming rate? Who should take the responsibility of what is happening to the nation’s currency in the face of the US Dollar? Let us also be reminded that the current President of Nigeria is not new to the administration of this country, since he was once a Federal Commissioner for Petroleum, a former Military Head of State and now President for his second tenure in Government. Yet, we have not seen any improvement in all the sectors. Rather, things are going from bad to worse.
As noted by the said write-up by Oni Gbolabo: “A confused country (led by apparently a visionless President), that produces almost nothing, will never meet up. Policies only control your currency, not the value of another countries currency against yours.”
Other points noted by Gbolabo, which made sense, include: “A country where over 500 industries died within 30 years must be stupid to complain of depreciation of her currency. We keep killing local industries and expect policies to make it up, it's a joke sir. Don't use China as an example if depreciating currencies and strong economy, China produces and may attract more export with that strategy unlike Nigeria that produces nothing; A country where someone carried $2+billion simply to be shared is already a doomed one in terms of monetary policy and value…
“A country that exports all raw materials without adding value is shameless to talk of depreciation of currency. To later re-import finished products of that materials is the peak of daftness. A bag of cocoa will go for like N1 million Naira but when it is processed it will worth around N7million. Even farmers who produced raw cocoa can't buy chocolate; A country that deliberately operate banking system that gives loans to importers at the expense of local industries is doomed and should say nothing about depreciation. Most of the loans are given to senators and representatives not industrialists; A country that give loans in billions to the Agric sector without Monitoring & Evaluation of such loan on how it gets to the real farmers, is a sham. A guy collected over N2 billion Agric loan, he bought a jeep, built a nice house and use the rest to import processed pork. Meanwhile, local pork farmers are dying here. Is that not a double tragedy, stressing forex at the same time killing local industries?
“A country that spend more on few privileged politicians at the cost of the populace who are unemployed should not talk about money depreciation. A country that keeps paying NNPC staff N10 billion as salaries every month when a single drop of petrol was not processed should shut up about depreciation of currency. Crime is rising as value added to the initial failure; A country where it is difficult for investors to register businesses because of the government officials demanding for bribes. Right from airport, to hotel, to minister to governors’ - investors will bribe. All these are part of cost of investment. A friend brought an investor on estate development, just for the state commissioner in charge to demand 30% of the investment. To see the governor in a state will cost you N2 million as bribe before you can be scheduled. This is a state as poor as anything.
“A country where the cost of travelling for treatment abroad by officials will build world class hospitals should not talk about Naira against US Dollar parity. Money taken to that trip is part of stress on forex. Same as forex spent on pilgrimage. Let religion fanatics keep off me here. Without going to Mecca or Jerusalem you can still make heaven. You waste forex on pilgrimage, to later be talking rubbish about forex; A country where few people have access to federal reserve and those few can get loans are not because of what they can produce but the connection they have, is that country not gone already; A country where we import what we produce because it's cheaper over there is gone.
“A country that has arable land, teaming idle youths and still complain of hunger, should not talk about currency depreciation. It's annoying; A country where free money flows can never control inflow and outflow of forex. Imagine someone who wants to hide his loot, went to Aboki to buy Dollars’ worth $50 million just to hide it in the basement of his house. That money has no economic value. Yet, it deprived those companies that need it to import raw materials, those companies go to Aboki to buy at exorbitant price; A country where banks are involved in round tripping and inflated cost to siphon money is doomed. A company wants to import caterpillar worths $50,000. A bank made the forex $550,000 meanwhile no caterpillar was imported at last yet the money faded into private accounts. Who strain forex in that case?”
The bottom line is that President Buhari is the one at the driver’s seat of the country’s economic affairs and prospects. He alone, would first determine the vision and direction for this country, which others are expected to follow. And he should always lead by example. Nobody used a gun to force President Buhari to seek for the Office of the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. Now that he has been there as the President for about six years now, he should take responsibility for the failures recorded at the moment. And not looking for who and what to put the blame on. He should be the one to drive the entire nation. There should not be any excuse.
It is the duty of the executive governments - President and Governors, to provide the vision and direction of development by investing heavily in the provision of the necessary infrastructure and conducive atmosphere for industrial development. Where there are no reliable power supply, no security assurance due to the criminal activities of Boko Haram, Fulani herdsmen/Bandits, kidnappers, armed robbers, etc., no good Federal and State roads, no good standard airports (like the oil city of Warri has been without a standard and functional airport), no functional Sea Port across the regions where they are meant to be, and not just concentrated in Lagos; then one begins to wonder if really we have a Government in this country or not?
The President is the Commander-In-Chief and Number One Citizen of the country. It is his responsibility to provide a secured environment in every part of Nigeria. He was not forced by any person to contest to be elected President. And so, he should take responsibility of the depreciation of the Naira, and concentrate in providing good governance. Dr. Oni Gbolabi has not touched on the real issue with his write-up. BUHARI WAS ELECTED, AND SOUGHT TO BE ELECTED TO IMPROVE ON THE LIVES OF NIGERIANS. HE WAS ELECTED TO FIX NIGERIA AND NOT JUST GIVE EXCUSES. All the problems identified by Dr. Oni Gbolabo in the country should be fixed by President Buhari, towards having a strong currency in the global market.
Zik Gbemre.
April 17, 2021
We Mobilize Others To Fight For Individual Causes As If Those Were Our Causes