The Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) has advised the
Federal Government to rely on indigenous economists
to generate the necessary ideas and policies that will
bring out the country from the present economic
recession.
NLC President Ayuba Wabba said this in an interview
with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Monday in
Abuja.
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According to him, the present situation requires our
experts to fashion out how best the economy can be
revamped.
“I think we should not shy away from relying on
Nigerian experts instead of relying on information and
dictates of IMF and World Bank, who have their own
vested interests.
“We have good economists that have been tested and
trusted; we should not shy away from using their
expertise.’’
Wabba said that statistics released by the Bureau of
Statistics showed that jobs were being lost and that
unemployment was also soaring due to galloping or
runaway inflation.
According to him, economic indicators show that there
is a continuous free fall of the naira since the Central
Bank of Nigeria (CBN) came up with the flexible
exchange rate system.
With this, government can hardly meet their
expenditure, especially the payment of mandatory
expenses such as salaries in states and local
governments.
“We need to know where we are now as regards the
economic situation of the country and how we can get
out of it.
“It may be a painful process but people, including the
working class, need to know what is really going on.
“How long shall we be in this situation and what are the
sacrifices that can be made and when are we getting
out of this recession.
“I think we have experts that can add value to the work
of the committee chaired by the Vice-President Yemi
Osinbajo.’’
Wabba observed that a number of the economists who
had spoken on the issue, had put forward some ideas
which if taken into consideration, would go a long way
to address the issue.
According to him, the Economic Society of Nigeria is
the umbrella body of tested and trusted economists
that has proved their worth in the time past.
