Lai Omotola: Policies Put In Place To Combat Economic Conflict Are Yet To Produce Desired Results

The CEO of Confederated Facilitators Limited, Lai Omotola, has said that although the Nigerian government has put in place policies to combat the economic hardship currently ongoing in Nigeria, the policies have yet to take effect and produce the results that Nigerians require.

Omotola said this in an interview with ARISE NEWS on Tuesday, where he also said that the economy is resilient and there are good policies in place to grow the economy, but what matters is how well these policies are implemented.

During the discussion on Nigeria’s economic instability, Omotola said that although the policies were giving a bit of concern and taking time in their implementation phase, they will eventually produce the required results.

He said, “The policies are yet to produce the desired results, which the president even acknowledged- that our reforms can be painful in this short term, but on the long run, he’s going to deliver on the desired results.”

Speaking on the policies that the CBN had implemented on the MPR and other policies that had been put in place tackle food insecurity, he said, “I think what the action of the CBN governor is to actually bring down the foreign exchange in spite of all other issues, believing that if you bring down this foreign exchange, if you can deal with the issue of foreign exchange that will come down, then, we can now have what is called price stability which is the first thing the CBN governor is trying to achieve, and they are trying to do that, and I agree with everything they’ve done so far.

“The minister for finance and the coordinating minister were yet to fill in in this economy, because apart from being the minister of finance, he’s also the coordinating minister. He’s like a prime minister. So, the economic philosophy of how he wants to run the economy is in his hands.

“Now, if we must solve the issue of food, it’s all about growing more. We already have the landscape, we have identified the landscape, but who is going to execute for us to grow more? That’s where the coordinating minister comes in- to sit down with all agencies and all ministries that are particular to this and set a target that this is what we want to grow in the next one year. If we do not do that, our food narrative is not really going to change.”

Regarding policies in the country, Omotola further said, “Policy is right, but what we are talking about now is the execution of this policy, the implementation of this policy. Everybody knows that if you’re going to solve food crisis, the solution to it is to grow more. How do we execute utilising one million square metre land to grow whatever we want to grow? What is the agenda for that? So, the execution of that policy is what we are now in. It’s not to say that the policy is not good, but how do we execute it to see the return that we actually want to see?”

However, the CEO said that the Nigerian economy, having a growth of 3.4% and not being in recession is a merit and that it still has prospect for growth as he said, “This economy is resilient, and this economy has prospect for other growth, because if you look at all the industries, you can’t get anyone that is saturated at the time being. So, I think we have prospects for this economy.”

Omotola then pointed out that the good working relationship between the legislature and the executive could lead to growth, saying, “There has been a seamless and a very effective relationship between the national Assembly and the Executive. So, there is political stability in the country, you don’t see a National Assembly that is always at loggerheads with the Executive, so that gives us peace.

“When there are works of National Assembly to be done, it’s now done in record speed which is a plus to the executive. And the executives should build on that to ensure that the National Assembly is cooperating in a way to make Nigeria grow.”

He then said, “The president has appointed ministers, and I can tell you for free, the President has allowed these ministers to show how well and how good they can perform. I tell you, if by December, things does not turn around, 70 percent of the ministers will be sacked. But let’s give them time to show the skills that they have, let’s not ambush them, let’s not say, look, within three months, these people are not doing well.”

Ozioma Samuel-Ugwuezi