Edo State Governor, Adams Oshiomhole has described the Federal Government’s Monetary policies as too injurious to job creation, stating that investors and employers of labour would be discouraged to set up businesses when interest rates are very high.
The governor spoke yesterday at the Governor Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi-led Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF) retreat in Port Harcourt.
Oshiomhole, while contributing to a paper titled, “Overview of the state of Unemployment in Nigeria,” blamed high level of unemployment on faulty monetary policy and lack of electricity, adding, “It is like telling someone to live long and then giving him poison.
“How can you create jobs by pricing money out of the reach of investors in the name of achieving market stability.
According to him, there was the urgent need for the private sector to drive employment at all levels of government as the Government only cannot achieve it, adding, “Two things drive the private sector, money and infrastructure.
“Governments, including the Edo State government, will never be able to employ everyone. Even if I devote all the resources of Edo State to create jobs.
Oshiomole stressed the need for the provision of power if Nigeria must drive the economy, noting that companies like Michelin, Bata, textile firms in Aba had closed down because of lack of power.
“There is a limit to what we can do as governors without power,” the governor stated.
“In Bangladesh, a small country, 60 percent of their total earnings come from textile industries, creating millions of jobs,” he added.
We have been operating this deceitful monetary policy since the days of IBB who introduced SAP .Systematic Aggravation of Poverty, which he named Structural Adjustment Program. Instead of stimulating economic growth, it has killed our industries , agriculture and social live. Not only that it has changed our value system. Only the bankers are smiling on pay-days. It also encourage people with loose money to keep it in the bank and live on the huge accruing. interest, of 2 digits.. If the interest rate were single digit,such money would have been invested and create jobs and food/raw materials for industries. Nigeria is Lucky that our farmers are not loan dependent. How would they have paid back 28% interest and princip? The government is taxing or is it tasking is with regular devaluation of the Naira. This deliberate devaluation has has turn the Naira into mere toilet rolls and killed our factories and industries thereby creating unemployment and high crime rate.Emefiele , are you there? Interest rate must not go beyond 5%.
The cost of doing business in Nigeria and the problem of unemployment will still persist longer than expected,if the stakeholders in the power sector continue with their current attitude. The federal government must not take the blame alone. This is because unless you are on holiday in Nigeria,that is when you will not appreciate the enormous resources so far expended in the power sector by various governments beginning from Obasanjo,Yar adua to Jonathan. The present arrangement have de regulated the power sector to be managed by private sector operators,yet the end is not in sight! I witnessed how every dick & harry clamoured for the government to adopt this approach in tackling the monster in the power sector. I think it is not genuine for anybody to start blaming the government on inadequate supply of power. I think it is a clear case of sabotage on the part of those who have worked on the power sector beginning from the various ministers and perm. secs. down to the smallest personnel who have ever worked there in the power sector. I still believe that if patriotic attitude is adopted by those involved,then the monster of inadequate power supply will be curbed.
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