Recession: NLC advises FG to engage Nigerian economists

The Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) has advised the Federal Government to rely on indigenous economists to generate the necessary ideas and policies that will bring out the country from the present economic recession.

NLC President Ayuba Wabba said this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Monday in Abuja.

According to him, the present situation requires our experts to fashion out how best the economy can be revamped.

“I think we should not shy away from relying on Nigerian experts instead of relying on information and dictates of IMF and World Bank, who have their own vested interests.

“We have good economists that have been tested and trusted; we should not shy away from using their expertise.’’

Wabba said that statistics released by the Bureau of Statistics showed that jobs were being lost and that unemployment was also soaring due to galloping or runaway inflation.

According to him, economic indicators show that there is a continuous free fall of the naira since the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) came up with the flexible exchange rate system.

With this, government can hardly meet their expenditure, especially the payment of mandatory expenses such as salaries in states and local governments.

“We need to know where we are now as regards the economic situation of the country and how we can get out of it.

“It may be a painful process but people, including the working class, need to know what is really going on.

“How long shall we be in this situation and what are the sacrifices that can be made and when are we getting out of this recession.

“I think we have experts that can add value to the work of the committee chaired by the Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo.’’

Wabba observed that a number of the economists who had spoken on the issue, had put forward some ideas which if taken into consideration, would go a long way to address the issue.

According to him, the Economic Society of Nigeria is the umbrella body of tested and trusted economists that has proved their worth in the time past.

NAN