By Longtong Ibrahim
Kaduna (Nigeria) – Former Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Prof. Charles Soludo, has challenged governments of the Ruling Party in Nigeria, (All Progressive Congress (APC) party) to stop blame shifts and concentrate on how to achieve the change mantra, by turning situations around to make the country great again.
He also said for Nigeria to come out of its current challenge of political, economic and social shocks, there must be a coalition of economic policies that can deal with desperate socio-economic issues in a systematic and sustainable manner.
Soludo made this known on Thursday in Kaduna, North-west Nigeria, while speaking during the fourth progressive governance lecture series on the theme: “Building the economy of states: challenges of developing inclusively sustainable growth”.
According to him, “a miscommunication of the change strategy is backward leading – blame PDP; blame oil price; blame corruption: Nigerians elected APC to sort out their problems; assumption is that things will return to normal …”
He said, APC need to come clean and explain to Nigeria their agenda and present a design program with a deadline that will meet the aspirations of the citizenry.
He explained that, for Nigeria’s economy to strive, inequality especially as marked by poverty trap-galloping divide between the haves and the haves not; issues of erosion, insecurity, vandalism, desertification, and population growth must be tackled.
Soludo added that, “inclusive and sustainable growth cannot be achieved without conscious efforts to deconstruct the dynasties of poverty and maximize states and Nigeria comparative and competitive advantage.
“There should be a restructuring of the economy from consumption to driven to production base; consistency in micro economic policies; encouraging fiscal federalism in ways that allows state have greater control of resources; evolution of a master plan for mass export oriented industrialization that answers the economic questions and realities today.
“APC states must develop a peer review mechanism to track, measure and share knowledge and experience in order to achieve shared values that will distinguish them from non APC states.
“There is also need for communication strategy that effectively communicates change in an inspiring manner for citizenry – this is important for building consensus for development as well as a coordinating mechanism for developing the 2017 budget,” he highlighted.
