A former Central Bank of Nigeria governor and the 14th Emir of Kano, Muhammadu Sanusi, says it will take a while to for the Nigerian economy to bounce back from 10 years of mismanagement.
He said that realistically, it requires more than six months or one year for the economic mismanagement of the last 10 years to be undone.
The former CBN governor spoke at the 2024 Rivers State Economic and Investment Summit at the Obi Wali International Conference Centre in Port Harcourt, the state capital on Thursday.
“The decision to centre governance around economic development through investment promotion is a very thoughtful and great decision by the government of Rivers State.
“This is more so because the reform of an economy whether state or the federation at large requires difficult decisions, it involves policies that will be painful and unpopular which usually don’t go down well with the politicians.
“But that is the only way to guarantee a better future for the people. At this point it is important for us as Nigerians to be realistic, the mismanagement of the last ten years will not be undone in six months or one year,” Sanusi said.
The present administration of President Bola Tinubu has witnessed some economic policies, especially the removal of petrol subsidy and the unification of forex rate which has seen prices of commodities skyrocket, throwing many Nigerian into hardship.
Sanusi said it will take a little while for Nigerians to see the impact of some of these decisions taken in order to reform the economy but maintains that the decisions are necessary.
“And we need to understand that some of the difficult decisions that are taken will take time to walk through the economy. It will take a little while for us to see a turnaround but those decisions are absolutely necessary for them to save the economy,” he said.
Sanusi pointed out that without going through the process of economic reforms, Nigerian would have walked the path of countries like Zimbabwe, Venezuela and Argentina which would not have been funny.
He also spoke on lots of other issues including taxation, saying that government’s taxing of the citizens must be sensible and not extortionary.
Quoting the late former British Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher, Sanusi said that no country has ever taxed its way to prosperity.
He emphasized that taxing and having a tax net is important but it must be streamlined. He added that government must tax growth and not income.
Sanusi also stressed the need for diversification of the economy, saying that oil is a resource but not enough to make Nigeria a wealthy nation.
