Foremost Human Rights Activist, Femi Falana, has asked President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to abandon the recommendations of the Bretton Wood institutions in order to end the suffering of Nigerian citizens.
The Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) told the the Nigerian government to discard the “deleterious policies” of the World Bank and IMF like asking the government to increase electricity tariff and removing hatever remained of the petrol subsidy despite that the political climate in the country was not conducive.
“There is no society in the world where government does not subsidise one product or the other even in the most advanced capitalist societies. And that is why Nigerians must begin to ask the government to discard and jettison the deleterious programmes and policies of the IMF and the World Bank.
Falana spoke on Channels Television, and suggested ways to deliver the country from its current economic travails.
“The only economic body recognised by the Constitution to advise the President is the National Economic Council headed by the Vice President and peopled by the state governors, Governor of the Central Bank and the Minister of Finance.”
Lamenting that the government had abdicated its responsibility to the IMF and the World Bank, set up by imperialists, he said: “It is an ideological battle. These institutions were set up by imperialism principally to destroy the economies of developing nations while they turn their eyes when the other governments are giving subsidies to their people. The economies of the United Kingdom, the United States, Germany and other are not collapsing despite that they give subsidies.”
According to him, Nigeria should join the BRICS economic bloc in addition to selling Nigerian crude to foreigners in Naira rather than dollars.
Stressing that the Federal Government must reduce its reliance on the economic predictions and policies of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank, he said: “There are countries in the world today insisting that we are not going to be tied to the American dollars and those countries are in the BRICS – Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa.”
Vice President Kashim Shettima, who was at the 15th BRICS Summit in South Africa said Nigeria did not apply to join the economic bloc considered to be a counterweight to western powers like the United States, butbFalana believed it was time for the country to join the economic bloc to salvage the Naira.
“Others are joining them; Saudi Arabia has joined them. UAE, Ethiopia, Egypt and all that. We cannot be more Catholic than the Pope. If friends of the West are joining BRICS, why are we not there? So that we can trade in naira,” he noted.
The Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), while accusing the government of dancing around the problem, arguing that the circulars by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) would not solve the forex challenges, added: “If I had my way, my own radical policy would be that: I would sell Nigerian gas and crude oil in Naira. Let those who want to buy our products look for Naira. That is how to promote your currency.
“But this business of everybody looking for dollars even to pay school fees, rent houses, and sell houses. It doesn’t happen unless you dollarize your economy. These are the issues the government would have to address to come out of this economic doldrums,” he said.
