The quickest way of getting Nigeria out of the present economic recession is to improve private sector investments, the Emir of Kano, Alhaji Muhammadu Sanusi II, has said.
Sanusi, who was also a former governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), stated this recently at the 2016 yearly directors dinner, organised by Institute of Directors Nigeria (IoD) in Lagos.
While receiving an award as distinguished fellow of the Institute, the Emir submitted that there is no economy that ever went down as a result of crisis but that wrong response would kill any ailing economy fast. His words: “The only way we can counter this recession is through private investment. The question is what are we doing to attract private investment?
When you are face with an up rise shock, do you respond by absorbing the shock on nominal variable or continue absorbing the shock on real variables. “We need to make a few very important decisions.” He queried: “For how long will we continue to have negative Gross Domestic Product, (GDP), rates before we recognize that we are on the wrong trajectory?
“From basic macro, your economic grows from three sources, consumption public or private, investment or export. We know that our exports are growing because of oil price and output. We know that public consumption isn’t growing because government revenue simply are not there.”
He noted that private consumption is not growing because wages are not increased and taxes cannot be reduced. Ooni of Ife, Adeyeye Enitan Ogunwusi, clamoured for the promotion of ‘made in Nigeria’ products.
He said the transformation Nigeria needs lies within every individual, saying, “if we don’t change our orientation and mindset, we would continue to remain stagnant.”
He charged Nigerians to ensure the promotion of cultures at various ethnic levels, which he said if cherished would reflate the economy and generate more revenue for the country. In his speech, former minister of Finance and guest speaker, Dr. Kalu Idika Kalu, said the way out of recession is to go back to macroeconomic drawing board and reset the macro market dynamism.
He said if this is implemented, it would portray seriousness to foreign investors and potential lenders who are willing to invest in the economy. According to him, no industrial revolution can be achieved without adequate infrastructure, stating that manpower is key to every reasonable infrastructure. “We need to improve the leadership structure, legislative and judiciary framework.
We need a radical restructure of the education sector, enable stable security and promote good governance,” Kalu said. Earlier in his remarks, President and Chairman of Council, IoD Nigeria, Samuel Akeju, reiterated the Institute’s commitment to restructuring of corporate governance, noting that the event was a veritable platform to recognize personalities who have contributed to the human development and influenced the society positively.