Never mind that one of the campaign promises of the current
change government was Naira parity with the Dollar. Earlier this year, the
situation had gone so bad that Dr. Ifeanyi Ubah had to offer his own economic formula
to arrest the downward spiral to N200/$. Not much has been heard so far on that
theory.
Then recently, the government through the back door reversed
itself on the vexed issue of devaluation of the Naira, by allowing oil
marketers to import PMS on the basis of forex procured from secondary sources.
This also shot the price of PMS from N87.50 to N145, though we are told this is
the upper limit. The pressure to source from the secondary market has as at
today put the exchange rate at N353/$, a far cry from Ubah’s N200/$. The forces
of demand and supply are at play here; Nigeria does not have enough forex to
back its appetite for imports.
What is my own ‘fantastically correct’ theory to rescue the situation?
Here is it: let all looters repent, repatriate and restitute all the foreign
exchange stashed in British and other foreign banks. The beauty of this theory
is that they don’t have anything to loose, rather they would gain more.
Nigerian government will also gain as it would have the stock of foreign
currency it needs to balance its trade. The economy will thrive as the dormant
funds in overseas banks are put to productive use locally. Rates may not be at
par, but it would definitely get to a manageable level. The situation can even
get better if the looters sale down their status symbol real estate in these
foreign countries; some of which are not earning them much.
Now I am waiting for Aso Rock to call me for consultation on
how to use this fantastically correct theory to solve the fantastically corrupt
problem!
