Nobel Laureate, Prof. Wole Soyinka, has called on President Muhammadu Buhari to summon an emergency economic meeting to chart a course to save the country from further drift.
Soyinka, who made the call when he visited the Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, in Abuja on Thursday, said experts and consumers should be invited to the meeting.
Answering a question from journalists on the state of the economy, Soyinka said the deterioration being witnessed now did not happen in a day, adding that it took a certain prolonged and unchecked process of attrition for Nigeria to get to its present economic condition.
He said, “The economic condition of a nation and of a people does not deteriorate overnight. Something came before that deterioration,
“Recovery is going to take quite a while. The President should call an emergency economic conference, with experts to be invited; consumers, producers, labour unions, university experts, professors, etc.
“I think we really need an emergency economic conference, a rescue operation bringing as many heads as possible together to plot the way forward.”
Soyinka blamed the current economic situation in the country on years of bad governance, and urged the Federal Government to call an emergency economic conference to address the situation.
The Noble Laureate also reiterated his support for the Federal Government’s anti-graft war.
He said the government must remain resolute in its fight against corruption, while also expressing satisfaction with both the target and tempo of motion as far as the efforts were concerned.
He, however, urged the government to pursue the anti-corruption battle within the confines of the law, saying that if the goal was attained by positive means, the government would have moved the nation forward by many years.
According to him, the government must recover stolen funds and punish those who are responsible “for the impoverishment of the nation, of the people and those who robbed the nation with contempt.”
In his welcome remarks, the minister said it was a great pleasure to host Soyinka, who he said had come on a private visit.
Mohammed added that with Soyinka’s level of fame and accomplishment, it was impossible for him to go anywhere unnoticed.
He thanked the Nobel Laureate for making the Ministry of Information and Culture his first port of call in Abuja.
While reacting to Soyinka’s suggestion, major stakeholders in the economy, including the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria, said an emergency summit to save the economy from further drift was necessary.
For instance, the Director-General, LCCI, Mr. Muda Yusuf, said there was no doubt that the nation was having an emergency economic situation and that the call for such a meeting could not have come at a better time.
He said, “We have an emergency in our hands no doubt. There is a need to discuss the current economic model. Whatever model we are using has not been working for us. We need to revisit the model and see if we can continue with it.
“Call it consultative forum or whatever, we need to gather stakeholders and technocrats in relevant areas to examine our fiscal and monetary policies. We have macroeconomic issues and we have experts in relevant fields who can discuss and enrich the government’s economic policies”
Similarly, the President, MAN, Mr. Frank Jacobs, who welcomed Soyinka’s call, described it as a step in the right direction, stressing that Nigeria was already drifting.
He said, “We are drifting away. We welcome this call. With the naira exchanging for about 400 to a dollar at the parallel market as against the 197 at the official market, which you cannot even get, we are in an emergency and we need to call an emergency economic conference urgently.
“By the end of this quarter, many manufacturing companies will be closing shop. The monetary policies being rolled are not working; if they are working, the naira will not be depreciating the way it is now.”
A renowned economist, Prof. Pat Utomi, told one of our correspondents in a telephone interview that a proper conversation around the state of the economy would be very helpful.
He said, “Anytime that citizens get together to talk about something in their interest, it is always helpful. I don’t see why that will be a problem. My basic point is that conversation always educates everybody and helps policies.
“I think that there is a grave need for us to educate each other about what really results in what. It is something I have been shouting about for more than 10 years, but intensely over the last five years about how much of our revenues be spent, how much should we budget and how to ensure that budgets are more effective. If people had listened to me, we won’t be in the mess we are in now.”
The Director-General, West African Institute for Financial and Economic Management, Prof. Akpan Ekpo, said, “It is a good idea because the economy is really in a very bad shape based on what was inherited by this new government.
“If it is an economic conference that will involve experts on the economy; if they can assemble experts who have the right qualifications, experience and expertise to discuss the economy, that will make sense to me.
“For example, the issue of the naira, which is depreciating every day, how do we stop it? Can we stop it? We need to discuss this. And then, this government needs a strong economic council of experts who will brainstorm on matters, do some research and advise the President.”
The Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Economic Associates, Dr. Ayo Teriba, said, “It makes sense. I think the President should have done that at the beginning of his tenure. He will benefit from having the opportunity to listen to other people’s ideas. This goes beyond party membership; Nigeria belongs to all of us. So, I fully support the call.”
On his part, the Chief Executive Officer, Financial Derivatives Company Limited, Mr. Bismarck Rewane, stressed the need for some urgent decisions to be made to rescue the economy.
He said, “Nigerians are already suffering from conference fatigue. If decisions have been made, then you can call a conference to sell the idea to it. But I don’t think a conference or a committee can make decisions to salvage anything.
“We are already embattled; doing nothing is no longer an option. I think what we require now are some urgent decisions; and if the decisions are wrong, we will change them.”
Rewane agreed with Soyinka that different interest groups must be considered, saying, “You need to consult them before you make decisions, but when you have decisions, you can now sell them to that conference.”
