The Nigerian Labour Congress, NLC, has shared its view on how the current-downward trend in the value of naira can be arrested.
The naira’s value has been declining and is now N770 to 780/$ at investor & exporter window while at the parallel market, it’s traded at over N1,000/$.
NLC on Sunday in a statement its President, Joe Ajaero released, blamed the situation on the political elite’s taste for luxurious-foreign goods urging that it would require them to wean themselves of the dissipation and take to local products to have a positive turn.
The statement titled, “Urgent action to stabilise the naira amidst alarming depreciation,” read in part: “Nigeria is fortunately currently blessed with local producers in certain sectors whose brands meet international standards and can therefore meet the demands of certain products for the public service in the country. We are, therefore, surprised that rather than patronise these brands, our public officials insist on the use of foreign products yet, we want the value of the naira to remain robust in the foreign exchange market.
“The simple maxim is that, ‘you cannot have your cake and eat it.’ It is either we put our food where our mouth is or we end up destroying our economy with our own hands. These actions of our public officials de-market the naira and they are one of the most dangerous factors sounding the death knell on the local currency. We, therefore, call on all Nigerian public officials to be more patriotic in their choices and favour locally manufactured goods.
“The positive multipliers created by patronising locally manufactured goods is huge and is capable of jump-starting the critical sectors of the nation’s economy but our refusal to do that has left the naira wobbling and teary.’’
Continued: “The Nigeria Labour Congress hereby calls upon the custodians of our economy to recognise the gravity of the situation and take immediate and decisive action to halt this uncontrolled depreciation of the naira.
“We implore the monetary authorities to implement effective measures to safeguard the naira, stabilize the economy, and secure the future of our beloved nation. All the nations of the world take pride in protecting their domestic currencies from all manners of threats but the reverse seems to be the case in Nigeria.
“Why a country with a high import coefficient and less than one elasticity of exports would allow its local currency to be at the mercy of the vagaries of the so-called market forces leaves us surprised and deeply worried. This is despite all the wise counsels warning against the consequences of such actions.
“It is only an economy with a vibrant and robust domestic manufacturing capacity that is export-oriented that will respond quickly and effectively to a free-falling local currency, not one like ours that is steeply bogged down by supply inertia and unable to meet domestic demands competitively talk less of responding positively and taking advantage of the falling naira.’’
