Moghalu Obi Explains How To Stop Naira Free Fall

A former Deputy Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Kingsley Moghalu, on Monday recommended less government interference as a way to boost the economy and ultimately halt the naira’s slide.

Moghalu, a professor of International Business and Public Policy argued that politicians do not understand the country’s economics, so cannot tackle economic challenges with knowledge.

Speaking as a guest on an ARISE TV programme, The Morning Show, the don said the country was operating without an economic philosophy.

“The problem with Nigerian economic management is that we are philosophically confused… You cannot run an economy without a clear philosophy. We are not sure whether Nigeria is a capitalist country.

“The problem with the Nigerian government is that it is too deeply involved in the Nigerian economy. This, in turn, creates room for corruption, arbitrage and perversion of the free flow of the market,” Moghalu said.

On the matter of naira devaluation, he said: “When the price is not supported by the reality of economics, the reality of demand and supply, the reality of the economy’s complex to export things and forex, you will find that the price at the window is about N410 to the dollar but in the black market it is far down to a gap of about N160 between the official window and the parallel mark.”

Moghalu reasoned that the root of the problem is that the government feels a political need to control the price of the naira relative to the dollar, but it has consistently failed over the years.

The don put this failure down to incompetence.

In his words, “The government can’t change the Nigerian economy. The economy cannot be transformed as long as Nigeria is led by politically and economically incompetent people.

“If I was president of Nigeria today with the political will to pursue this reform, I think there’ll be a better chance of the economy getting better. Being led by politicians who do not understand all of these is a problem because they cannot come at it with knowledge, what they understand is the politics of personal advantage and patronage.”

A former Anambra State governor, Mr Peter Obi, who also appeared on the programme, said the Southeast would not force Nigerians to hand it the presidency at gunpoint.

Obi said the quest by the area to occupy the highest office in the land would be through negotiation and other persuasive means.

He explained that the region would continue to seek inclusion in the Nigerian project and partake in critical decisions.

The Vice Presidential Candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the February 23, 2019 election, spoke as a guest on an ARISE TV programme, The Morning Show.

He said: “The Southeast as a zone has sat and said we want inclusion in this enterprise, we want a seat in this enterprise called Nigeria; we’ve not been given a seat. It’s like a company in which you contribute a lot but you don’t sit on the board. So, we’re saying we want a board seat in this enterprise to show that we’re part of it and that is not a bad demand.

“If you look cumulatively to what is happening in the Southeast, its demand is genuine and is compelling. But what will happen? I don’t know. We just have to watch.

“Like I keep saying, we’re not going to do it by dragging and shouting and putting a gun on the head of everybody. We have to consult, negotiate, appeal and make people understand that we are part of this enterprise.”

Switching to party politics, Obi argued that the zoning of party chairmanship would override competency.

According to him, things had gone south nationwide, thus it was time to rescue the country. This, he added, meant that where the ‘rescuer’ comes from is no longer paramount.

He added: “We have to get it right in 2023 or we’re finished. If we get it wrong in 2023, it will be dire for the country. So, we must get it right. We must look for competency. We must look for somebody with the competence and the knowledge of what it means to serve or lead this country. We’re on the wrong road now and we cannot continue this journey on this road.

“Wherever our chairman comes from, will not stop people from the zone from contesting (for the presidency). If we have a chairman from, say, Northeast and we get a presidential candidate from Northeast, of course, the chairman changes. It’s not as if we’re dealing with something that cannot change or that is stationary. No, it’s something that can be moved from one zone to the other.”

To this end, the former governor added that the issue of zoning the position of the PDP National Chairman should not stop a presidential candidate coming from the same area as positions of national officers could always change.