Tinubu Tasks Nigerians To Buy Made- In- Nigeria Goods To Sustain Naira Gains
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PRESIDENT Bola Tinubu has tasked Nigerians to intentionally patronise made in Nigeria products and services so as to sustain the unfolding positive showings of the naira at the foreign exchange markets. Tinubu, who noted that the fair development around naira’s exchange value does not call for celebration yet, but more work and efforts to sustain the gains, also charged citizens to blow the whistle and expose those who engage in currency sharp practices.
Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Ajuri Ngelale, who delivered President Tinubu’s message while briefing newsmen at the State House, yesterday, further said that part of the reasons for the administration to actualise a strong naira is to make life easy for working Nigerians, especially when the new minimum wage comes into effect.
Recall that the exchange rate of the naira to other international currencies had steadily slid into a weak position since the government introduced a policy to float the currency last year in an attempt to curb currency arbitrage.
However, the currency maintained a steady appreciation against the United States dollar on Thursday, gaining N18 to close 1,382/$ at the official market.
Ngelale said: “I’m certain that everyone seated here and indeed Nigerians at large have witnessed the seismic shifts that have taken place within the nation’s foreign exchange market over the course of the last several days and the strengthening of the Nigerian naira against the United States dollar.
“This is clearly the direction all of us have wanted to head and we are very sober to the fact that this is no time to rest or to clap; this is a time to deepen our efforts to dig in and to work harder, which is why His Excellency, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, has approved a series of interventions to ensure that we see a mass strengthening of the Nigerian naira against all other global currencies.
“One, President Bola Tinubu, wants to communicate very clearly to our people that there has never been a more important time in our history to actively agree together that we will patronise and purchase made in Nigeria products across all value chains, across all sectors.
“There is an intentionality that we must have on this issue that we want a strong currency; we want the spending power of our people to go up. We want every naira and kobo we earn to be more valuable, not just here, but when we travel abroad. The way to achieve that is by doing just this.
“In addition to that, His Excellency, Mr. President, beyond the appeal to Nigerians to actively and intentionally make that decision every day to patronise made- in- Nigeria products and services across the board, is also wanting to ensure that Nigerians fully understand that the momentum that we are now seeing, with respect to the strengthening of our currency, is not going to slow down.
“The efforts that Mr. President has put in place, in collaboration with other agencies of government, as well as the Central Bank of Nigeria ( CBN), in dealing decisively with sharp practices on certain crypto- currency trading platforms, dealing decisively with sharp practices within the parallel market of the foreign exchange ecosystem, that these things are now yielding fruit. “What we now need to see is an active effort on the part of our people to blow the whistle wherever they see any of these sharp practices taking place; to communicate with the agencies that deal with these issues directly and understanding that this is not a government versus malign actors issue.”