Office of the Financial
Vice President
and University Treasurer, Boston College
Boston,
Massachusetts,
USA
The “Dollarization
of the Naira” is an attempt to mop up the excess Naira
that are in the hands of the few, exchange them for hard currencies,
and take dollars out of the country. It will lead to the flight of
stolen wealth, which had been buried in the bedrooms and secret bank
accounts of those that have plundered our resources. It will create
another hemorrhage in the Nigerian Nation similar to what the exodus
of learned Nigerians to other parts of the world did to our
development. Need I remind anyone of the now famous “brain drain”
epidemic?
DOLLARISATION OF THE
NAIRA by Joseph A. Owumi, Sr., DBA
I
read with dismay, various articles on the announcement of the Governor
of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Professor Chukwuma Soludo, regarding
his proposed policy on the “Strategic
Agenda for the Naira”. The proposal as described by
various newspapers across the country is a re-valuation,
re-denomination, or decimalization of the Naira, by establishing a
conversion rate of N1.25 to $1.00 USD come August 2008.
It
is my experience that the value of a country’s currency is not
unilaterally determined, rather market forces, and in this case,
supply and demand determines the value of a currency. Therefore, for
the CBN Governor to come out and make this pronouncement is
ill-advised. The learned Professor needs to explain to every Nigerian
how he arrived at the rate of N1.25 to $1.00 USD.
The proposed policy is ill-informed. It is not a solution to the
worthlessness of the Naira when compared to other major currencies.
The only way to shore up the Naira against other foreign currencies is
to create a sustainable economy with little or no unemployment, good
governance, transparency, and eventually with market forces in place,
the Naira will appreciate over time.
The proposed policy as I call it is an attempt to “Dollarize the
Naira”. We may as well do away with the Naira and establish the Dollar
as our national currency and unit of measure. This policy is not an
attempt to cure or revive the “ailing” Naira. Rather, it is a
deliberate attempt to pander to the political “elites” as well as
those who plundered Nigeria’s resources, with the sole purpose of
“burying” the Naira. We all know that bad policies of previous
administrations, as well as the politics of those who think that
Nigeria belong to them and their families and friends, that made the
Naira “sick”.
What about public opinion and a host of questions that need to be
addressed? For example, how does the learned Professor plan to explain
to the average market woman who is used to collecting N1,000.00 for
some measure of rice, that she now has to collect only N10.00 for the
same measure? How does he explain to the average Nigerian worker who
is used to collecting N36,000.00 a month, that come August 2008, his
income will be $360.00 a month? How will the Professor explain to
President Yar’Adua who recently declared his assets at N500 Million
Naira, that one year later, his N500 Million Naira through the process
of decimalization will be N5.00 Million Naira only? Or, how does he
justify to the Immediate Past President, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, that
his billions of today, through this policy will be Millions of
tomorrow? The questions are endless, and I don’t think the Professor’s
explanations will go down well for any Nigerian.
While I believe strongly in the autonomy of the Central Bank, there is
no doubt in my mind that President Yar’Adua is responsible for
whatever goes on in Nigeria. Therefore, for the learned Professor to
arbitrarily make his pronouncement without consultation with the
government and its Economic Team, is rather naïve and unintelligent. I
beg to say that with all humility, the learned Professor has become
much unlearned.
The “Dollarization
of the Naira” is an attempt to mop up the excess Naira
that are in the hands of the few, exchange them for hard currencies,
and take dollars out of the country. It will lead to the flight of
stolen wealth, which had been buried in the bedrooms and secret bank
accounts of those that have plundered our resources. It will create
another hemorrhage in the Nigerian Nation similar to what the exodus
of learned Nigerians to other parts of the world did to our
development. Need I remind anyone of the now famous “brain drain”
epidemic?
The bottom line for the Professor’s policy of “revaluation,
redenomination, decimalization, or what I call ‘Dollarization
of the Naira’” is purely an attempt to allow all those
“elites” who have been responsible for the pillage of Nigeria’s
treasury to convert their excess “stolen” hidden Naira into Dollars,
and take their ill-gotten wealth out of the country in a legitimate
manner. And for those who are yet to join this “elite” group, it is an
opportunity to “steal” your “share”, of the oil money, knowing fully
well that come August 2008, you can convert it all to Dollars, take it
out, and buy expensive mansions in Europe and/or America. GOD SAVE NIGERIA! AMEN.
