A coalition of civil society groups, under the auspices of Vanguard for Social Justice (VSJ), has supported the policies of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), in collaboration with the Federal Government, to revive the Nigerian economy.
Speaking in Abuja, on Thursday, convener of the coalition, Bassey William, commended the policies of the CBN, particularly the blockage of leakages to the country’s foreign reserves as well as the injection of funds into the real sector, with a view to revamping the ailing economy.
Mr. William, who noted that the current economic challenges and recession were the culmination of many years of financial imprudence on the part of government at different levels, noted that the CBN had shown leadership by daring to plug loopholes in Nigeria’s foreign reserves.
According to him, one of the best things that have happened to the present administration is the role being played by the CBN Governor, Godwin Emefiele, in bringing the Naira to be at a very favourable position in the global economic market.
“By restricting FOREX allocation to 41 items in which Nigeria has comparative advantage, the CBN has given new lease of life to many companies that were hitherto suffering from strangulation brought about by the importation of items that can be produced in the country,” he noted.
“Instead of condemning the difficult decisions taken by the Management of the CBN to ensure there is no total collapse in the economy, stakeholders should commend the CBN for its positive move of digging Nigeria out of recession,” William added.
The coalition group also faulted calls for the resignation of the CBN governor over the current exchange rate of the naira, stressing that the value of the nation’s currency would only witness an upward spike when the country exports goods and services to earn foreign exchange.
While urging the Federal Government to make good its promise of diversifying the economy, he charged Nigerians to re-enact their patriotic zeal by patronising made in Nigeria goods and services in order to achieve a more diversified economic system.
About 500 members of the coalition came with placards with inscriptions like “In Unity We Will Overcome Recession”, “Say No to Agents of Destabilisation”, “Naira Will Bounce Back”, “Give Change a Chance” and “We Stand with Buhari and Emefiele” among others.
