President Muhammadu Buhari, yesterday directed the
Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to stop providing foreign exchange for
importation of food into the country.
Buhari made the disclosure on Tuesday in Daura, Katsina State, when
he hosted All Progressives Congress (APC) governors to the 2019
Eid-el-Kabir lunch at his country home.
According to him, the directive is to achieve steady improvement in
agricultural production, and attainment of full food security.
In a statement, Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity,
Garba Shehu, quoted Buhari as saying that the foreign reserve will be
conserved and utilised strictly for diversification of the economy, and
not to encourage more dependence on foreign food imports.
“Don’t give a cent to anybody to import food into the country,” he directed.
The President noted that some states like Kebbi, Ogun, Lagos, Jigawa,
Ebonyi and Kano, had already taken advantage of the Federal
Government’s policy on agriculture with their huge returns in rice
farming, urging more states to key into the ongoing revolution to feed
the nation.
“We have achieved food security, and for physical security we are not doing badly,” he said.
Buhari said he was particularly delighted that young Nigerians,
including graduates, have started exploring agri-business and
entrepreneurship, with many posting testimonies of good returns on their
investments.
He said the incoming ministers will be “taught’’ and thoroughly
guided to ensure they meet the targets of the APC-led government for the
people, with regular monitoring of their performances and scaling up of
targets by the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the
Federation (OSGF).
The President promised to attend the Presidential Policy Retreat
organised for the ministers by the OSFG, insisting on compliance with
laid down targets on key sectors of the economy that would directly
impact the livelihood of Nigerians.
In his remarks, the Chairman of the Nigerian Governors’ Forum and
Governor of Ekiti State, Dr John Kayode Fayemi, said the President’s
sense of justice, fairness and forthrightness had turned a major
inspiration to governors on the way forward for the country.
He said the challenges faced by states “were enormous’’, but the
governors had remained undaunted, assuring the Nigerian leader of strong
support and “the very best effort’’ to overcome all remaining
obstacles.
Similarly, Chairman of the Progressive Governors Forum and Governor
of Kebbi State, Alhaji Atiku Bagudu, appreciated the President for the
unique leadership style of maintaining a healthy relationship with
governors on individual and collective basis, pointing out that they
had been “energised’’ to do more in their states.
The governor commended the President for making bold and courageous
efforts to reposition the economy for majority Nigerians through
inclusive policies.
“The country is more secure than in 2015, and the country is more
prosperous than in 2015 because you are working for the majority of the
people,’’ he added.
The governor said the party had been repositioned, after the 2019
elections, to work for the benefit of the majority of Nigerians, noting
that “there will be two elections this year and we need to work towards
winning the two states.’’
Meanwhile, Nigerian economic experts have reacted to the planned foreign exchange ban on food import by President Buhari.
Professor Pat Utomi, a political economist lauded the President’s
initiative, noting it held the prospect of boosting development of the
local food industry and assisting government halt a possible slide into
another economic recession. “I don’t have anything against it as it is
important that there should always be a policy for local
industrialisation,” said Utomi.
He, however, said because food production has been made more
difficult in recent years by rising insecurity across the country as
many people are unable to go to farms, the policy may lead to severe
food shortages. He explained that any policy to curtail food imports
should be weighed against the country’s comparative advantage,
especially the capacity to produce such foods in sufficient quantity for
the local market.
“The economy is already sliding into a tough strait with oil prices
dropping and things are getting more difficult that we may have to
borrow and continue to borrow. And if we are not careful, we may have
balance of payment issues and slip into another recession,” he warned.
Also commenting on Buhari’s proposition, a foremost economist and
Managing Director of Financial Derivatives Limited, Mr. Bismarck Rewane,
said the forex ban was not a fundamental issue but mere cosmetic
approach to economic problems.
He said similar bans in the past had failed to yield the expected
result as some of the products still found their way into the country.
‘‘Is it not in this country that the Federal Government banned the
importation of vehicles and rice? Are these products not still available
in the country today?
Go to some of these retail stores, you still find imported rice in
different variant and quantity displayed on shelves. So for me, these
are not really serious issues that should be taken seriously.
Restrictions don’t really help economies while protectionism , to me
is a Trump style, that does not , in any way , help economies, adding
that to be successful is to realise what is possible.
Until you figure out your exchange rate policy in this country,
smuggling will still be a byproduct of an inefficient exchange rate,
adding that, there is nothing that can be done about it.
If it is cheaper for businessmen to import things, irrespective of
weather there is a ban on forex or not, people will always find a way
around smuggling. It is the Customs and smugglers that will benefit from
such illicit act’’.
Rewane said if government blocks forex through the official source,
businesses will find a way around it using black market and other
sources to get it in order to smuggle the product into the country. The
financial expert said the easiest thing to do is to announce regulation
because talk is cheap, adding that, the most difficult thing to carry
out is enforcement of the regulation.
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