The Senator representing AbiaNorth Senatorial District, Orji Uzor Kalu, has said that President Bola Tinubu’s Administration was right not to have accepted the economic policy prescriptions of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
Drawing insights from the over-hauled Port Harcourt and Warri Refineries including the stability of the exchange rate, the former Abia Governor noted that Nigeria would not have recorded its current level of progress, if the President had accepted the monetary and economic packages of both international financial organisations.
According to a statement from his Media Office, Kalu stated this yesterday, while addressing a gathering of guests at the Arochukwu LG country home of Chief Sunday Ugwa, where he was hosted.
He lectured the guests on Tinubu’s economic reforms such as the fuel subsidy removal, the liberalisation of the foreign exchange regime, the deregulation of the country’s petroleum downstream sector and the Tax Reform Bills among other policies.
Kalu observed that Nigeria’s economic problems stemmed from indigenous factors and such required home-grown macro-fiscal reforms which the President had already deployed to stimulate the economic growth and development which the nation was beginning to witness.
“President Tinubu removed the subsidy, which former President Olusegun Obasanjo refused to do, and he merged the exchange rate. We need to redefine governance models in Africa and some third world countries.
We must not accept all the recommendations of the World Bank and IMF, most of them are wrong. We must use homegrown policies to solve our economic problems, because the majority of our problems are caused by local issues,” he said.
“The kind of decisions Tinubu has been taking are the ones no President in the history of this country dared implement, but we all know deep within ourselves that those decisions are inevitable if we truly want to prosper as a nation,” Kalu noted.
To buttress his position, Senator Kalu drew reference to the downward trend in the prices of fuel, describing it as a sign that the President’s reforms were beginning to yield results.
Kalu also posited that there would be reduction in prices of other goods and services in the country in the near future. “I know times are hard but let us be optimistic.
Can you remember how much the price of fuel and diesel were months ago and compare it to what the prices are today? All other inflated prices will come down. I am telling you the truth.
Today the Warri Refinery that has not worked for over 20 years has started working.”
Kalu further cited an instance of how the Asian tigers (Korea, Taiwan, Singapore, and Hong Kong) ignored the IMF and World Bank economic packages but yet have continued to record progress in their economies.
The lawmaker also urged youths not shy away from democratic process in order to the election of charlatans into elective offices; “The Asian Tigers jettisoned the IMF and World Bank but today we can see how they have progressed.
Politicians must work very hard to sustain democracy because democracy is good for everyone but we must participate in democracy.
I challenge young people to stand up for democracy, if you don’t participate you’ll allow idiots to be elected then it will no longer be interesting,” he said.
He reinstated his stance for a shift in Nigeria’s economic strategy via regional competition as a key driver for growth using China as an example. Kalu called for commitment on both the government and the people.
“We cannot be successful and develop without putting in the work on both the side of the government and the people, as Nigeria is today. We cannot develop unless we engage in competition.
China is said not to value human rights but they have been growing annually at 10 per cent for the last 35 years.” Kalu’s host Chief Ugwu expressed gratitude to the Senator for honouring his invite and acknowledged the lawmaker’s impact in community development.
He said: “I ask God to bless you, what you have for our people is very good and remarkable. The rousing welcome you received when you arrived here shows your level of acceptance and how Loved you are.
