National Leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, has proposed a seven-point agenda, which he said, would revive the country’s troubled economy and drastically reduce her dependence on petro-dollars. Tinubu explained that the development of a national infrastructure plan; the return of commodity exchange boards and the promotion of government-backed housing programmes were important measures that could help to reposition the national economy.
The proposals are contained in a recent lecture the APC leader delivered in Lagos, where he said the decline in oil prices had revealed the travesty of the country’s extant economic model. He proposed a national industrial policy fostering the development of strategic industries, which he said, could create jobs as well as spur sustainable economic growth. He proposed a credit-based economy, stating that credit for business investment was too costly in Nigeria.
He asked the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to cure its affection for high-interest rates, arguing that lower rates were required for industrialists to borrow without fear that excessive costs of borrowing would consign them to irredeemable debts. He argued that a workable credit system would reduce corruption, adding that the current lump-sum payment requirement tempted people towards misconduct. “They see no other way to secure such large sums. Their wages will not suffice. They must steal the money, beg for it or forego the purchase,” he said.
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