By Chibuike Nwabuko
Abuja (Sundiata Post) – The Coalition of Civil Society Groups have described as encouraging the economic strides in Nigeria made possible by the concerted efforts of President Muhammadu Buhari and Governor of Central Bank of Nigeria, Godwin Emefiele despite the economic downturn occasioned by the unstable low price of crude oil in the International Market, advent of Covid-19 pandemic and the multifaceted insecurity challenges facing our country.
The Coalition stressed that the achievements by the Government under the leadership of President Buhari cannot be possible without the support of the able lieutenants appointed to head the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) under the able leadership of Mr. Godwin Emefiele who has made efforts to turn around the negative indices of the economy as a result of good policies.
This was the position of the Coalition as contained in the address read at a solidarity rally in support of the achievements of President Buhari and Emefiele in Abuja on Wednesday signed by the trio of Etuk Bassey Williams, President; Abubakar Ibrahim, General Secretary and Femi Osabinu P.R.O made available to Sundiata Post.
The Coalition also applauded the recorded achievements in the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs), the small Farm holders and also expressed appreciation on their effort towards assisting our industries to meet-up with international standard in the quality of goods produced for export.
According to the Coalition, “Today, many Nigerians have benefited from wonderful policies of the CBN such as the Youth Entrepreneurship Development Programme (YEDP), Accelerated Agricultural Development Scheme (AADS), the Agri-business/Small and Medium Enterprises Investment Scheme (AGSMEIS). These policies have impacted positively in the lives of many Nigerians. Jobs have been created and millions of Nigerians are happy and grateful.”
It highlighted that the Anchor Borrowers Programme that has increased yield per hectare and food security in the country is a plus to the CBN. This policy among others is in support of the drive by the Government to diversify the economy and stimulate growth in the agriculture sector, it added.
In the words of the Coalition, “It is without doubt that the Effort of CBN in ensuring protection of Bank customers, effective supervision of Deposit Money Banks and Other Financial Institutions; and deepening of financial inclusion through an effective banking and payments system in recent times has yielded positive results
“Governor Emeficle’s support for the Creative Industries through the Creative Industry Financing Initiative (CIFI), which is being implemented in collaboration with the Bankers’ Committee, is a huge boost in the Creative Industry.
The Coalition therefore frowned at the economic sabotage going on in the Forex market and condemned a situation where the disparity between the official bank-exchange rates for dollar/naira will be too high, thereby creating inflation.
In the words of the Coalition, “We applaud the sincere effort to salvage the naira, the CBN stop of sales of Forex to Bureau De Change (BDC) Operators who exploit and artificially inflate dollar/naira exchange. We applaud this move to discourage illicit financial flow, BDC racketeering and indiscriminate round tripping.
“We hereby call on the Governor to suspend the activities of the BDC operators in totality and supply money to the commercial Banks,
The Coalition therefore demanded that a monitoring committee that comprises of EFCC, CBN and NFIU be set up to cheek and arrest BDC operators who go to the Banks to buy off the dollar using fake application.
Furthermore, the Coalition applauded the CBN introduction of e-naira, adding that it’s confident that this policy will stimulate economic activities that will result into job and wealth creation.
The Coalition called for more support to the leadership of the country and the leadership of the CBN based on the recorded achievements listed above.
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