By Ogah Simeon<\/p>\n
Far from being alarmed at the threat that the global economic situation
\nposes to the Nigerian economy, some group of unpatriotic are impatiently
\nwaiting in the wing to cash in on the nation\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s economic challenges.
\nThese are vultures that have smelled the potential for carrion and would
\nnot even wait for the animal to be fully dead before feasting. Like
\nvultures waiting out the final moments of a dying animal on boughs, they
\nare waiting to see Nigeria\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s situation worsen before diving in.<\/p>\n
But unlike vultures, which are not in the habit of quickening the demise
\nof the animal they want to devour, these saboteurs are doing all they can
\nto quicken the death of Nigeria\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s economy so that they can feast to
\ntheir full.<\/p>\n
Specifically, they have placed the managers of the Nigeria\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s economy
\nunder unprecedented pressure to devalue the naira. Their chorus for
\ndevaluation has been without thoughts for the impact on the larger
\npopulation that stand to be negatively affected by any such hasty move.<\/p>\n
As they grow more impatient to reap windfall from their envisaged
\ndestruction of the national currency, desperation has set in. Newspaper
\npublications are inundated with pseudo analysts competing to outdo each
\nother as to who can be the most screeching strident in the call to reduce
\nour currency to tissue paper. Television programmes have a full cast of
\ntalking heads that market devaluation of the naira to appear like the best
\nthing since the discovery of three minutes noodles \u00e2\u20ac\u201c five minutes of
\nlistening to them and one realizes that while they may be physically
\npresent in a Nigerian studio they do not live in Nigeria. Same as their
\nonline and newspaper counterparts these minions for neocons are completely
\ninsulated from the reality on the streets.<\/p>\n
The crooks who are clamouring for devaluation of the Naira have not for
\none heartbeat been sincere about their true intentions or at least the
\nagenda of those they are fronting for. What they have never mentioned in
\ntheir many treaties and television appearances is that they desperately
\nwant devaluation so that they can ship back the stolen funds stashed
\nabroad to buy up Nigeria at half price.<\/p>\n
Fortunately, it appears the Central Bank Governor (CBN), Mr Godwin
\nEmefiele is awake to this ploy which could in part explain the staunch
\nrefusal to bow in to the fraudulent demands for the currency to be
\nrubbished just to please a clique of cutthroats.\u00a0 Instead of bowing in to
\nthe blackmail of these currency speculators, he has taken bold steps to
\nshore up the Naira on other fronts.<\/p>\n
Despite the low return on crude oil sales, which has been the driver of
\nthe pressure on the Naira, the CBN Governor has been able to sustain
\ninvestors\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 confidence contrary to the prophesy of charlatans that there
\nwill be divestments and panic withdrawal from Nigeria. Those who had tried
\nto use the potential for divestment as a point in their argument for
\ndevaluation usually, conveniently, sidestep the fact that what we are
\nwitnessing has a fairly global spread and that other countries also have
\ntheir currency under pressure while manufacturing has slowed down in
\nothers.<\/p>\n
The other fact the pro-devaluation crowd are happy to hide from Nigerians
\nis the role played in the past by institutional corruption, of which they
\nare beneficiaries. The armsgate scandal might have exposed how public fund
\nwas shared like a local trader giving out alms to beggars, but the other
\nlesson that is not impressed on our collective subconscious is that the
\nmuch of the stolen funds \u00e2\u20ac\u201c arms purchase and in other sector \u00e2\u20ac\u201c are in
\ndollars. So we had a recent past that was not only corrupt but whose
\nofficials also unabashedly dollarized our economy.<\/p>\n
Furthermore, most of\u00a0 the dollars that should been in our foreign reserve
\nis sitting pretty in the offshore accounts of the same people who are now
\ncampaigning for the crippling or even death of the Naira.
\nThey are also dubious to admit that devaluation mostly works wonder if the
\neconomy is heavy on manufacturing and export. We are low on both, so where
\nis the advantage of devaluation to us? It will take a while for our export
\nand manufacturing, after prolonged neglect, to pick up. If we devalue
\nbefore we have something to sell then we may not be able to afford the
\ncapital to kick-start manufacturing considering that heavy machines must
\nbe necessarily imported.<\/p>\n
Mr Emefiele might have been appointed under the previous administration;
\nas an appointee of government he was obliged to obey the then Commander in
\nChief, but today he has to clean up the mess left in the wake of that
\nadministration. This is a task he has largely succeeded in achieving and
\nhas thus proving that the stance of the President a CBN Governor serves
\nmatters. His pursuit of zero tolerance for corruption in so many areas is
\nyielding result and they are in tandem with President Muhammadu Buhari\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s
\nchange agenda.
\nOf course, Mr Emefiele\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s stance, in joining the fight against
\ncorruption; in refusing to destroy the naira; and in reactivating
\nstatutory remittances, has consequences.<\/p>\n
He is now the subject of smear campaigns that aim to more than rubbish
\nhim. The goal, from what is available in the media space is to either
\nforce him to resign or have the President sack him. The logic backing such
\ncalls are as shallow as they are untenable. Why should Mr Emefiele resign
\non account that he acted on instructions of the former president even
\nafter he has demonstrated what difference a purposeful leadership can make
\nunder the current government?<\/p>\n
His detractors have even gone the extra length of asking the Economic and
\nFinancial Crimes Commission to arrest him on account that the Dasukigate
\nscandal happened under his watch. There is no point wasting precious print
\nspace taking apart this line of reasoning \u00e2\u20ac\u201c it is akin to asking a
\nperson\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s account officer to be arrested because money was released to
\nthe account holder when he demanded for it.<\/p>\n
The reality of the situation is that while it may appear that those
\ncalling for Mr Emefiele\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s sack with threats of \u00e2\u20ac\u0153mother of all occupy
\nprotests\u00e2\u20ac\u009d genuinely want to see him go, their intention is more
\nsinister.<\/p>\n
International markets usually monitor more than the economic situation in
\ntheir country of interest, they also monitor political dynamics. The call
\nfor the CBN Governor\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s sack is surreptitiously meant to achieve a
\ndifferent objective in the short term. It is meant to spook the markets
\nand further put pressure on the Naira. This will in turn provide
\nadditional fodder for the pseudo analysts and the talking heads to screech
\nmore about why the currency should be devalued.<\/p>\n
For the sake of Nigeria, Mr Emefiele must therefore remain unbowed and
\nunaffected by these ill-conceived calls for him to resign or be sacked.
\nPresident Buhari has repeatedly demonstrated that he is with the CBN
\nGovernor as far as not devaluing the Naira is concerned so this should
\nembolden him. As the vultures continue to hover, the CBN Governor should
\nmake the subject of their interest, the Naira, recover and walk away. For
\nonce, let the vultures go hungry.<\/p>\n
Ogah is a public policy analyst based in Makurdi, Benue State.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
By Ogah Simeon Far from being alarmed at the threat that the global economic situation poses to the Nigerian economy, some group of unpatriotic are impatiently waiting in the wing…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":43261,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-46435","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-articles-opinions"],"yoast_head":"\n