We Need To Open Up Our Economy, Not Close It

The number one challenge facing Nigeria is youth unemployment. In fact, it is not a challenge, it is an emergency. It affects our economy and is exacerbating insecurity in the nation.
What Nigeria needs now, perhaps more than ever, are jobs and an opening up of our economy, especially after yesterday’s report by the National Bureau of Statistics indicated that foreign capital inflow into Nigeria is at a four year low,
having plummeted from $23.9 billion in 2019 to just $9.68 billion in 2020.

Already, the nation suffered severe economic losses from the border closure and the effects of the #COVID19 pandemic.
This is definitely the wrong time to introduce policies that will restrict the inflow of capital into Nigeria, and I urge that the policy to prohibit the dealing and transaction of cryptocurrencies be revisited.
It is possible to regulate the sub-sector and prevent any abuse that may be damaging to national security. That may be a better option, than an outright shutdown.
There is already immense economic pressure on our youths. It must be the job of the government, therefore, to reduce that pressure, rather than adding to it.
We must create jobs in Nigeria. We must expand the economy. We must remove every impediment towards investments. We owe the Nigerian people that much.

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More from @atiku

21 Jan
As @POTUS, @JoeBiden begins his tenure as the 46th President of the United States of America, I am confident that this new era will mark America's regeneration and her reaffirmation as the beacon of democracy to the world.
As I congratulate President Biden and @VP, @KamalaHarris , I urge them and their administration to strengthen US-Nigeria ties, and help our beloved nation’s war on terror by providing every type of support required to win our war against the insurgency we face.
I also look forward to the removal of every travel restriction on Nigerian citizens, in keeping with the good relations that has existed between our two nations...
Read 6 tweets
1 Jan
It is with a glad heart that I welcome everyone to the New Year, 2021.
The out-gone year was quite dramatic and it is only by the grace of the Almighty God that we survived to witness the succeeding year.
It is cheering that we are entering the New Year with refreshing news of a handful of certified vaccines against the dreaded Covid-19 virus. And better still is news of commencement of vaccination in some parts of the world.
Read 15 tweets
20 Dec 20
The reason Nigeria took a harder than necessary hit during the first wave of the #COVID19 virus is that the Federal Government failed to heed the warnings of well-meaning Nigerians, like myself and others, to shut down our borders once the virus became a pandemic.
Hindsight is 20/20. Nevertheless, we must learn from history, or we stand the risk of repeating it.
The new strain of COVID19 that has erupted in the United Kingdom, and specifically, London, can add to Nigeria’s health emergency if we do not act with an abundance of caution and temporarily halt all flights to and from the UK until this new strain is brought under control.
Read 5 tweets
11 Dec 20
On behalf of my family, I wish President-General of Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Chief John Nnia Nwodo a happy and memorable birthday.
Nnia Nowodo's experience in public and private life, as well as the giant strides recorded right from his days as the Student's Union President at Nigeria's premier university, the University of Ibadan stands him out as a unique Nigerian.
I recall his humility and decision to be a commercial bus conductor and a commercial bus driver after Nigeria's civil war as testimonies of a dogged and versatile personality who never gives up to circumstance and will never take no for an answer.
Read 4 tweets
22 Nov 20
We Must Exit This Recession With Precision.

It is with a very heavy heart that I received the confirmation that for the second time in five years, #Nigeria has entered into another #recession.
Heaviness of heart, because this could have been avoided had this administration taken heed to patriotic counsel given by myself and other well meaning Nigerians on cutting the cost of governance, saving for a rainy day, and avoiding profligate borrowing.
Yes, the COVID19 pandemic has exacerbated an already bad situation, however, we could have avoided this fate by a disciplined and prudent management of our economy.
Read 25 tweets
7 Nov 20
I congratulate @JoeBiden on his well-deserved victory at the November 3, 2020, US elections, and look forward to the age-long collaboration of our two nations in the course of the advancement of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness for all peoples.
Nigeria and the United States are two nations, united by a common language. Indeed, the first major trip by the leader of an Independent Nigeria was the July 25, 1961, White House visit of the golden voice of Africa, the late Sir Tafawa Balewa, under President John F Kennedy.
Nigeria and the free world, have much to learn from your victory, especially your pronouncement that you would not be a President for only those who voted for you. May such sentiments echo and reecho globally.
Read 7 tweets

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