Economy: Nigeria needs new ideas

T HE plan of the Federal Government to obtain loan in the tune of $30billion shows that the country’s leadership needs experienced economic advisers to tackle the recession we are facing at the moment.

I am glad that former President Olusegun Obasanjo has sounded a note of warning to government that the loan would amount to selling the future of Nigerians.

The truth is that when we mess up the country’s economy, it is the unborn Nigerians who will suffer for it when it is their turn.

When Chief Obasanjo was president , he worked towards ensuring the repayment of our debts to our foreign creditors. This is the lasting legacy that he left at the expiration of his tenure. Unfortunately, within a short time, the country has amassed several billions of dollars again in foreign debt.

This shows that subsequent leadership after Chief Obasanjo did not share his vision of a debt-free Nigeria. It is as a result of this that the Owu chief spoke against the plan by the Federal Government to loan an additional $30billion.

In actual fact, this loan will never serve its purpose, as our politicians will only see another avenue to enrich themselves, while the citizens continue to suffer.

However, if the Federal Government is being advised to obtain the loan at all cost, why can’t it try alternative ideas on how to get out of our self-inflicted economic hardship? In my opinion, getting international political economic experts to advise the government on the best way to overcome the recession will make more sense.

Nigeria is in such a mess economically at the moment, and I feel we need all the help we can get if we are to get out of the situation. There are economic experts who have helped their countries to overcome their economic difficulties in the past, and I think such people can be hired by the Nigerian government to assist us with ideas.

It is not that there are no economic experts in Nigeria, but we need new ideas to save our economy. What matters is for us to get out of this economic mess, and not who did what.

Asking for help is not a shame, but a move to regain our lost glory, while repositioning the economy on the path of growth through the ideas of experts who reason differently.

It is, therefore, necessary for the Nigerian government to identify suitable foreign economists who will help our economy bounce back from the direction it is currently heading.

However, the Federal Government should be wary of taking advice from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) or the World Bank, as what these organisations will only suggest will be an increment in taxes, as well as further devaluation of our currency.

• Nonso James,

Victoria Island, Lagos.