BEVERLY HILLS, January 18, (THEWILL) – Dr. Kingsley Obiora’s appointment as a Deputy Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria is a huge opportunity for Nigeria to work out and implement a lasting solution to its economic and developmental challenges, John Nwodo, the president of Ohaneze Ndigbo said Saturday.
He said president Buhari’s choice of Dr. Obiora, the alternate executive director at the International Monetary Fund, IMF, is sound reasoning because the economist brings along his vast knowledge of Nigerian, regional and global economic issues, which the country desperately needs.
Speaking to THEWILL on Saturday in a telephone chat, the president of the prominent Igbo cultural group said: “Kingsley is a square peg in a square hole. Kingsley brings with him international exposure, abundant knowledge in economic and macro-economic management…
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“As President General of Ohaneze Ndigbo, this is one commendable gesture of the federal government and we want the Igbos to be part of the governance of Nigeria because we know we have many capable people who can contribute to making the country a much better place.
“Kingsley’s appointment is very welcome. It is not just that we’ve been given a position, but we’ve been given a very important position. And not minding the place of origin of the Governor of Central Bank (Godwin Emefiele), his appointment is a recognition of merit. For that reason I salute the federal government and I can on behalf of my people say that we are very proud of this gesture.”
Chief Nwodo further expressed his displeasure at the current state of the economy saying “it is very bad” and that the present administration has not implemented the right policies to set the economy on the path of exponential growth and completely wean Nigeria from its sole reliance on crude oil to fund its budget.
He said: “I don’t even think the new Economic Management Team has started work. If they have started obviously their recommendations have not been put in gear. Any other country in our situation would have set up an emergency team.
“Our main stay in terms of source of revenue is oil. Oil is a receding commodity because the world is diversifying its sources of power at a very fast rate. America has expanded oil production to a point where it has 100 percent reliance on its domestic production because of the advancement of shale technology. Canada too has copied shale technology and it will soon be increasing its export of crude on account of the new technology. Many European countries will copy it too.
“There will continue to be a glut in the international market. Apart from this, statistics shows that of all newly installed engines in the world in the past few years installation of electric powered engines, solar powered engines and renewable powered engines have overtaken fossil oil powered engines.
“More specifically in Europe, America and china, the demand for electric cars has outstripped the demand for fossil oil cars. Now, the expansion of drone technology dependent on solar and electric energy has invaded the agricultural sector and defence sector in such a gargantuan manner that Benjamin Netanyahu tells us that by use of drone technology they can determine the chemical component of a plant and cure the chemical deficiency without boots on the ground.
“We also know that in military technology it is possible for America to go to war today without a boot on the field and using drone technology…
“The general effect of these exponential growth in the non-oil sources and almost static growth of non-oil sources in our country means soon we will be out of the market and out of reckoning.
“Right now state governments can hardly sustain their capital and recurrent budget without occasional bailouts from the almighty federal government. The federal ministries and departments are so analog, so uncoordinated that they have no formula or response to this impending doom.
“The curriculums in our schools are patronizing an analog economy rather than a digital economy.
“What about our food production? You should not therefore wonder that we are the 6th largest producers of crude oil in the world and we are the greatest importers of processed crude oil products in the world. It is no wonder that we are the greatest producer of cassava yet we cannot export ethanol and starch. We are the biggest producers of tomatoes in Africa yet we are the largest importer of tomato puree.
“Something is fundamentally wrong in our thinking and leadership.”
