PMB’s failure to bring change will lead to disaster – Expert

The local currency, Naira, in the last few months has been on a steady decline, with the disparity between rates at the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, and that of the parallel market widening day by day.

The Managing Director, MD, Willlands Engineering Limited, Ebere Williams Nweaze, has disclosed that if President Muhammadu Buhari fails to deliver on his change agenda, such inaction will amount to a disaster.

Nweaze in an exclusive interview with Post-Nigeria in Abuja said, “As far as am concerned, a lot of things went bad before the coming of President Muhammadu Buhari. You will agree with me that the moment the price of crude oil crashed, even former President Goodluck Jonathan’s government started owing salaries.

“The Economy is crude oil based, I believe that Buhari with time is going to shift from that arrangement. Let oil be a sort of standby while we go about harnessing human resources, taxes, mining, agriculture and all other areas of export

“The oil has made an average Nigerian very lazy as everybody is waiting to have a share to squander, that was the trend.

“Buhari cannot make N1 equal to $1, but I believe he is driving somewhere; he is going to make the economy with time better than what he met it.

“I belong too that school of thought that we should not devalue the naira, let every area of export be properly harnessed to improve the economy.

“Buhari is not the originator of Nigeria’s problems, I know Nigerians are suffering now, but its a matter of time, I think he is laying the foundation, the previous foundation was really faulty.

“Let every Nigerian justify the money he earns, I don’t think the change will come so easy, I stand with him in the banning of 41 items from accessing Forex.
But there is a clause, “If Buhari fails after due diligence such failure will amount to disaster.

“Why do you think there are strange sicknesses. It is because of the importation of fake adulterated goods which are hazardous to human health.

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The Vice Chairman, Bureau De Change, BDC, Abuja branch, Addullahi Abubarkar Daura, in his own submission on the Nigerian economy decried that most Nigerians are the cause of their own problem as they are not patient to make do of the Central Bank of Nigeria’s official window, which leads to higher demand on the black market.

According to him, coupled with the CBN policy which has banned BDCs from accessing foreign exchange directly from the apex bank, Forex has become scarce and as such the higher the demand, the higher the price.

He however, blamed speculators and politicians who have long stockpiled dollars in their various places of abode as also been responsible for the crisis.

He said since the ban, BDCs only access dollars from individuals and since most of the dollars are stocked by the so called politicians, they unilaterally decide to hoard it in view that the price will shoot up for profiteering.

As at today, the dollar is trading at N310 to N325 to a dollar, Pound N470 to a pound, while the Euro is trading at N370 at the black market.

The Managing Director, MD, Capital Oil and Gas, Ifeanyi Ubah, in a recent statement claimed that he can make the dollar exchange at N200 to $1 within 30 days, he said it was very possible as he knows the actors who are playing the piper and aside he has enough dollars to crash the black market price.

According to a Taxi driver who operates in Abuja, the current economic experience as at today lacks words of expression as there is no light, increased tariff, cash crunch and inflation.

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