Osita Ogbu, a professor of economics at the University of Nigeria in Nsukka, suggested that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu should call a crisis meeting with governors, reconsider the withdrawal of gasoline subsidies, and look into floating the naira.
In a Saturday interview with Channels Television, the don revealed this.
He clarified that a major factor in the suffering engulfing Nigeria last June was the government’s simultaneous removal of gasoline subsidies and floating of the Naira.
He claimed that the recent demonstrations under the hashtag #Endbadgovernance demonstrated how unhappy Nigerians are with the government’s policies.
He said that in order to end the suffering, the government should establish innovation and industrial hubs spread throughout the states, in addition to palliative care.
“People have been saying the president should address the people, I think the president should call the state governors to a crisis meeting. Because there is an urgent need to industrialize the nation.
“The states must become hubs of innovation. A certain sum of money should be put outside to incentivize ideas they put on the table. I have always believed that the National Economic Council can be used better.
In order to address the Naira problem in the FX market, Ogbu asked for an investigation into the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited, the primary source of the nation’s foreign exchange profits.
He continued by saying that the government should effectively manage gasoline and intervene in foreign exchange.
“The reason why petrol prices have not come down is because, as the country was removing fuel subsidies, it was also deregulating the foreign exchange market.
“We need to reexamine the activities of NNPCL. What I expect is that in the first six of any government, one or two refineries should be working. And it shouldn’t take a year. If this had taken NNPCL more than a year, the question should be asked.”
Speaking on Nigeria’s foreign exchange crisis, Ogbu said, “You watch your inflows and outflows and create a certain basket around it. You don’t just through it and say demand and supply. Remember, this is a country where the major supply of foreign exchange is one source.”
