University Faculty examines state of Nigerian economy

By Amgbare Prince, Yenagoa

The Faculty Of Social Sciences, Federal University Otuoke has organised a one day symposium with the theme “The State of The Nigerian Economy: Issues And Way Forward” at the School of Postgraduate Studies Auditorium.

The Chief host of the symposium, the Vice Chancellor of the University, Professor Teddy Charles Adias in his remarks while declaring the programme open said the economy is very critical to the development of the country and urged managers of the national economy to adopt right measures that will increase and raise the standard of living.

He noted that the marginal increase in salary has been eroded by inflation adding that the greatest thing to do occasioned by the current hardship faced by Nigerians is to keep hope alive for better days to come while stating that he is tempted to call a symposium on the faith of Nigerian Economy.

Advertisement

The Dean Faculty of Social Sciences, FUO, Professor Francis Oluleye in his presentation on the theme ” The State Of The Nigerian Economy: Issues And The Way Forward” explored the historical background of the Nigerian Economy with Agriculture as major contributor to Gross Domestic Product(GDP).

He noted that the economic crisis of the country started from the adoption of Structural Adjustment Programme(SAP) by the Ibrahim Babangida led Military Administration which he added brought to fore economic deregulation causing rising prices of goods and services

The Dean posited that 20 to 30 percent is a reasonable rate of inflation saying that in the case of Nigeria it is above the threshold.

He hinted that Nigeria experienced the worst rate of inflation in 1995 emphasizing that rising inflation will hurt the economy and people will find it difficult to make ends meet

Professor Oluleye noted that the current state of the Nigerian Economy is characterized by galloping inflation, exchange rate volatility, mounting internal and external debts unemployment, exchange rate speculation and exacerbated by the removal of fuel subsidy and floating of the naira which have adversely affected cost of production.

He prescribed price control, reduce demand for dollar, revisit and strengthen currency swap agreement, ban on government officials from sending their children overseas for studies, privatization of public refineries, explore alternative sources of energy, encourage mechanize farming, SMEs, skills acquisition and capital punishment for public officials found guilty of embezzlement.

Professor Obi Kenneth, an Economist from Nnamdi Azikiwe University Awka also speaking on the theme described the economy as the aggregate system of production, distribution and the over all performance of the economy at a given time.

The Professor of Economist said the economic goal is to have stable price level or realistic stable economic exchange rate stressing that using single macro- economic indicators will not produce stable and realistic result

Professor Obi Kenneth averred that Nigeria is also experiencing global poverty index with over 130 million people suffering from multi- dimensional poverty.

According to him out of the number, 86 million are from Northern Nigeria and about 42% of poor people are rural dwellers.

He said the actual means to access the economy is human development, good governance, voice and accountability, political stability, ease of doing business and redistribution of income in favour of the poor to correct income inequality.

Professor Victor E. Oriavwote, HOD Economist Department, FUO in his presentation on the theme noted that the Central Bank of Nigeria and the monetary authorities are using the wrong approach emphasizing that over borrowing is killing the economy while noting that policy implimentors should not use monetary policies to settle structural problems, stop floating the currency and adopt measures to manage the exchange rate efficiently.

He said the average family size of three persons need at least Five Hundred Thousand Naira to survive in a month.

He recommended that government should address the farmers herders crisis, encourage ranching and improve agricultural production to tackle food scarcity

The fourth Speaker, Professor Felix Oriakhi, HOD Political Science Department ,FUO also speaking on the theme hinted that the political system in the country is an imposition and destruction caused by the Colonial Masters which superimposed the modern economy adding that the destruction of the economy was caused by the political class.

The Professor of Political Science noted that at independence the development state of the economy was stable but subsequent governments after Babangida Military led Administration are still implementing IMF programmes that is sinking the economy..

He said Nigerian Economy is resting on class divided dimension which he noted came from the political class and identified primitive accumulation of wealth by the governing class to the detriment of the people as one of the causes of economic inequality in the country.

On his part, Professor Odio Odama of the Department of Sociology and Anthropology, FUO dwelling on the theme said social issues are the controversies plaguing the people and hinted that IMF and World Bank estimates determines the analysis of the economy.

He informed that Nigeria’s economy is largely dependent on oil with no proper revenue management and is characterized by elevated interest rates, high borrowing, inadequate power supply, corruption, ethnic and religious differences, exacerbated food security challenges, limited access to quality education and skills development.

According to Professor Odio Odama, the way forward out of the quagmire is government should stop using foreigners as consultants to handle projects, place more emphasis on skills development, fight crime and terrorism, update and improve power distribution lines in the country, build modular refineries and stop the importation of petroleum products.

Dr. Lasisi Raimi, the Director Entrepreneurship Centre, FUO on his presentation of the theme from the Sociology Eye stated that Nigeria has data problem and emphasized the need to re-consciencetize our thinking particularly issues of social security, welfare and relationships starting from the family.

He noted that there is distinctive kind of class stratification and questioned if the social safety nets programmes are working..

Dr.Lasisi Raimi advised government at different levels to initiate social programmes that will enrich the poor.

The symposium went into questions and answer session which featured Professor Ekein, Professor Emmanuel Akpan, Dr Coronation Tokpo, Dr. John Kalama, Professor Okeke, Dr.Ayaowei Esiyan and contributions from students like. Matthew Doubrakemefa among others.

The Organizing Committee Chairman, Dr.Anthony Chukwuebuka Okoye gave the vote of thanks.

He commended the resource.persons for their brilliant presentations and informed that the faculty is planning to organize an international conference in no distant time.