Anyaoku backs Buhari’s no devaluation of naira stance

Anyaoku

Former Commonwealth Secretary General Emeka Anyaoku yesterday backed President Muhammadu Buhari’s stand on the devaluation of the naira.

He said those calling for official devaluation of the naira need to come up with a good answer to Nigeria’s present situation.

The ex-Commonwealth chief insisted that for Nigeria’s federalism to work there must be restructuring.

Anyaoku spoke yesterday in Akure, the Ondo State capital, at a lecture to mark the state’s 40th anniversary.

Others who spoke at the event hosted by Governor Olusegun Mimiko, who is also marking his seventh year in office, include Senators Shehu Sani and Ben Murray-Bruce; former Minister for Information Labaran Maku, former Labour Party National Chairman Dan Nwanyanwu and a Public Policy analyst Yadoma Bukak Mandara.

The theme of the event is “Curtailing Nigeria’s Centrifugal forces.”

Anyaoku said: “My view is that adopting true federalism will enable us achieve speedy development and political stability.

“This would reduce the enablement of Centrifugal forces in Nigeria.”

On the economy, he urged President Muhammadu Buhari to convene an emergency meeting with economic experts to proffer solutions to the nation’s economic crisis.

“The present level of the country’s dependence on imported goods results in a monthly import bill that is four times the value of our main export, which is traded in dollars.

“ Official devaluation of the naira will produce a further rise in inflation to the detriment of all of us, especially the masses.

“In such circumstances, devaluation will lead to a decline of our country’s external reserve, which is already depleted.

“The challenges are to help us devise policies to reduce the country’s dependence on foreign goods,” he said.

Sani said the government must learn to do things differently.

Murray-Bruce said: “Before 1960 we had state police. And during the regional system, the west, east and north were doing fine.

“Now, we have come together but 55 per cent of the budget is spent by the Federal Government and we are starving the states to death.

“We must change the federal system to reflect what really make sense.

“And people must learn to impeach governors who do not judiciously spend the fund.”

Maku said: “We cannot allow the country to fail because the nation is important to black people.”

He noted that centrifugal forces had been undermining the nation’s development, saying the nation needs a leader who can rise beyond any fractionalisation.

“For an heterogeneous nation like Nigeria, we need to debate a basis of that rhythm such that if you are  Yoruba, Igbo or Ijaw you can believe in the country because you are guaranteed justice, equal representation and equal respect in the federation,” Maku said.

Mandara said the government must ensure it values the lives of Nigerians.

The governor said until the country is restructured, nothing will change.