From: Noah Ebije, Kaduna
The Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF), on Thursday, said that the news that Nigeria’s economy was now out of recession should not be celebrated yet until living conditions of ordinary Nigerians are improved.
The ACF, however, noted with delight that the economic policies and programmes of President Buhari’s administration are yielding some positive results.
The Forum added that there should be consciously directed effort to merge forex markets in order to reduce round tripping in order to improve the value of the naira.
This was contained in a statement issued by the National Publicity Secretary of ACF, Muhammad Ibrahim Biu.
The statement read, “Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF) welcomes the cheering news that the Nigerian economy is presently out of recession based on the figures contained in the report released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).
“However, ACF urges the Federal Government not to rest on its oars until the living conditions of ordinary Nigerians are improved through sustained economic policies and prudent management. This should include consciously directed effort to merge forex markets in order to reduce round tripping and improve the value of the Naira.
“Furthermore, Government should invest more in agriculture and solid minerals exploration in the hope they will provide job opportunities to our teaming youths and also our foreign exchange earnings.
“NBS report showed that the economy’s exit of recession was spurred by improved performance in the oil, agriculture, manufacturing and trade sectors of the economy.
“It also indicated that with improved local and international investments, the economy will be better.
“ACF also wishes to commend the Federal Government for its political will to resuscitate the Mambilla Power Project that was abandoned over 45years ago. With the Government approval of about $6.0billion contract to a Chinese consortium, it is hoped that on completion, the Mambilla Hydropower project will add more megawatts of electricity to the economy and also boast our agricultural revolution that will increase food production, employment opportunities,food security.
“This will also conserve forex needed for importation of raw materials and machine for our industries.
“ACF, therefore,urges the Federal Government to sustain its worthy commitment to this project within its contractual schedule by providing its counter-part funding obligations and payment of appropriate compensation to the communities that will be affected by the project”.