Former minister of education, Oby
Ezekwesili says the economic policies of the President Muhammadu
Buhari-led federal government are “archaic”, comparing them to the ones
he used as a military head of state.
Speaking on Saturday at The Platform, a
yearly programme organised by Covenant Christian Center, Ezekwesili
lamented the economic situation of the country.
She said the effect of the policies have been detrimental to the masses.
“What did not work in 1984 cannot possibly be a solution in a global economy that’s much more integrated,” she said.
“During the first coming of this our new
president, a command and control economic system was adopted, and
inflation spiraled, jobs were lost and the economic growth level dipped.
“In over one year, the president is
still holding to the premise that command and control is the only way
out, and we have lost the single digits inflation status we maintained
in past administrations.
“The weakest and the most vulnerable
suffer the impact of inflation the most. Enormous power is being abused
as a result of archaic and opaque economic policies.”
Ezekwesili emphasised that the primary
purpose of government is to provide security of lives and properties, as
well as improve the welfare of the people.
She also criticised the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), saying the apex bank needs to “regain its autonomy”.
“We need to rethink the present monetary policy of the administration, actually the monetary policy was relatively safe guarded from political domination, it will do well to give a semblance of autonomy back to the Central Bank, so that the central bank would speak the language of economics and not this language of rhetoric and language of anecdote, and language of suppositions that are no longer premised on hard economic facts,” she said.
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