RECESSION: “Only An Intellectual Leader Can Transform Nigeria” – Moghalu

A former Deputy Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Kingsley Moghalu, said on Monday only an intellectual and competent leader can truly transform Nigeria as the country slid into its second recession in five years.

 

Kingsley Moghalu has said that until Nigeria gets an intellectual and competent leader, the country will continue to suffer economically.

 

The former presidential candidate was reacting to reports that the country has entered another recession, the worst since 1987.

 

According to him, the report is not surprising and COVID-19 pandemic is no excuse for Nigeria to slide into another recession.

 

The former presidential candidate on Monday said unless the problem of leadership selection and constitution structure is addressed, Nigeria’s economy cannot create wealth for its citizens except for those with political connections.

 

Moghalu said this in a series of tweets on his Twitter page, even as he urged Nigerians to do the needful.

 

His tweets read: “No surprise Nigeria is entering yet another recession. Until Nigeria is led by an intellectually competent leader, with visionary politics backed by sound economic thinking and knowledge, economic transformation will remain a dream. It’s for citizens to do the needful.

 

“Covid-19 contributed to our current recession, but is no excuse. Nigeria’s econony has been weak for several years. Was the 2016 recession caused by Covid too? The deeper problems of economic management led to our weak response to the Covid crisis.

 

“South Africa’s budgetary fiscal stimulus response to the crisis was $26 billion. Ours was a budgetary provision of N500 billion ($1.3 billion) and a @cenbank intervention of N1 trillion ($3 billion). And only a fraction of our desperately poor households received the 20K disbursements from the money budgeted.

 

“Unless we address the problem of our constitutional structure and the leadership selection problem in our politics, Nigeria’s economy simply can’t create prosperity for its citizens, only for a very few with the right political connections for rent-seeking.

 

“The few real entrepreneurs who make it do so in spite of, not because of the government.”