President Muhammadu Buhari and the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Godwin Emefiele have both been applauded for their thoughtfulness in dealing with Nigeria’s economy amidst global pandemic COVID-19.
In his address during a solidarity rally held at the Unity Fountain in Abuja, the President of the Coalition, Mr Etuk Bassey Williams, said the purpose of the rally was to appreciate the two leaders for their excellent leadership style in tackling the economic challenges in the country caused by the global economic downturn.
He said, “We are gathered here in solidarity for the present leadership of the Country on their efforts towards ensuring that our economy continue to survive despite the economic downturn occasioned by the unstable low price of crude oil in the International Market, advent of Covid-19 pandemic and the multifaceted insecurity challenges facing our country.
“The achievements by the Government under the leadership of President Buhari cannot be possible without the support of the able lieutenants appointed to head the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) under the able leadership of Mr. Godwin Emeficle who has made efforts to turn around the negative indices of the economy as a result of good policies.
“We applaud the recorded achievements in the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs), the small Farm holders. We also appreciate his effort towards assisting our industries to meet-up with international standards in the quality of goods produced for export.”
Speaking further, Mr. Williams said many Nigerians have benefited from wonderful policies of the CBN such as the Youth Entrepreneurship Development Programme (YEDP), Accelerated Agricultural Development Scheme (AADS), the Agri-business/Small and Medium Enterprises Investment Scheme (AGSMEIS).
He added that these policies have impacted positively in the lives of many Nigerians.
“The Anchor Borrowers Programme that has increased yield per hectare and food security in the country is a plus to the CBN. This policy among others is in support of the drive by the Government to diversify the economy and stimulate growth in the agriculture sector.
“It is without doubt that the Effort of CBN in ensuring protection of Bank customers, effective supervision of Deposit Money Banks and Other Financial Institutions; and deepening of financial inclusion through an effective banking and payments system in recent times has yielded positive results “Governor Emeficle’s support for the Creative Industries through the Creative Industry Financing Initiative (CIFI), which is being implemented in collaboration with the Bankers’ Committee, is a huge boost in the Creative Industry.
“We frown at the economic sabotage going on in the Forex market. We condemn a situation where the disparity between the official bank-exchange rates for dollar/naira will be too high, thereby creating inflation.
“We applaud the sincere effort to salvage the naira, the CBN stops sales of Forex to Bureau De Change (BDC) Operators who exploit and artificially inflate dollar/naira exchange. We applaud this move to discourage illicit financial flow, BDC racketeering and indiscriminate round tripping.
“We hereby call on the Governor to suspend the activities of the BDC operators in totality and supply money to the commercial Banks, “We also demand that a monitoring committee that comprises EFCC, CBN and NFIU be set up to check and arrest BDC operators who go to the Banks to buy off the dollar using fake applications.
“We also applaud the CBN introduction of e-naira, we are confident that this policy will stimulate economic activities that will result in job and wealth creation.”
