Chairman of the
Champion Newspapers, Chief Emmanuel Iwuanyanwu has called on
President Muhammadu Buhari to seek economic advice from a former Minister of
Finance, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, as a way of rescuing the country from recession.
Chief Emmanuel Iwuanyanwu |
The businessman
warned that with the present economic difficulties, no foreign investor would
invest in the country.
Speaking in
Owerri, the Imo State capital, when members of the African Youth Parliament
from 50 African countries, led by the Nigerian representative, Ibrahim
Mohammed, visited him, he enjoined Nigerians to generate fresh ideas rather
than attribute blames and give excuses.
While harping
on the need for Buhari to seek help from the immediate past co-ordinating
minister for the economy, Iwuanyanwu said, “When Nigeria was in this type of
mess some years ago, former President, Olusegun Obasanjo, called on Okonjo
Iweala to help. Ex-President Goodluck Jonathan also used her to revive the
country’s economy.
“Nigeria, at
this present stage of economic hardship and downturn, should also call on
Okonjo-Iweala and others for help. We are in a recession now, if care is not
taken, we shall go into depression soonest.”
It will be
recalled that a former member of the House of Representatives and a chieftain
of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Hon. Bitrus Kaze, had advised Buhari to
eat the humble pie and reach out to the likes of former Minister of Finance,
Ngozi Okonji Iweala, to help the nation come out of its current dwindling
economy.
“If I were
President Buhari, I would eat the humble pie and go after this woman. She is a
world class,an economist, she is highly respected in world economic
institutions like IMF, World Bank, among others,” he advised.
The elder
statesman also frowned on the way sensitive ministries were merged into one,
adding that there was no way such supervising minister would perform a miracle
in his or her responsibilities.
“In fact, he
(Buhari) should separate Works, Housing and Transport ministries and appoint a
minister each for the ministries,” he said.
However, the
former minister had foreclosed serving in the current
government Buhari, even if invited, pointing out that: “I am not the only
person who is a repository of knowledge. There are other people who can equally
try their hands in running the economy.
“One of the
things you learn as you get wiser is to talk less as you grow older. I have
spent my time contributing to the country. It will be better to leave those
managing the economy to do what they know how to do,” the former Managing
Director of World Bank stated.
You may recall
that Buhari had while declaring open the annual meeting of the Association of
African Central Banks in Abuja, advised Central Banks of Africa countries
against relying on prescriptions from foreign countries.
He called on
them to rather develop home-grown solutions to the economic
challenges facing the continent.
·
Source: Daily Post
No comments:
Post a Comment