By Perpetua Onuegbu
Mr Ugo Obi-Chukwu, the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of NairaMetrics, Nigeria’s leading Financial Literacy Website and Media Company says the removal of fuel subsidy and Naira Exchange Rate Unification are measures taken to restore macroeconomic stability.
Obi-Chukwu said this while delivering a lecture at the Quarterly Dinner/Conferment of Fellowship on 118 engineers of the Nigerian Society of Engineers (NSE) who have distinguished themselves in their fields on Wednesday in Abuja.
According to him the government inherited myriad of issues including a low gross domestic product growth rate, commodity prices, increased inflation rate, currency depreciation and high insecurity among others.
“The inflation rate is at an all times high and still going up. Interest rates are high and if government continues this way, it will keep borrowing and keep borrowing until we don’t have an economy.
“So the very first bitter pill we have to take is the subsidy removal, The second is the unification of the naira which has just happened, these are two things that are inevitable,” Obi-Chukwu said.
He, however said, government must work with urgency to ensure that hat the suffering that citizens are going through end soon.
“So I will tell Nigerians to be patient and in a short time, things will get better,” he said.
He said the benefits of the removal of fuel subsidy were enormous including stronger fiscal policies and the inflation drop.
He also called on government to invest in mass transit to alleviate the sufferings of the masses.
Also speaking on the subsidy removal, the President of NSE, Mr Tasiu Gidari- Wudil said the society would make its position public after consulting with the government.
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”I agree that there is suffering in the land. Members of the society have carried out a lot of research and with that we will come out with a position and also advice the government.
Speaking on the conferment, he said the conferees, now have the responsibility of delivering value services to the development of the nation.
”They have also acquired the responsibility of being role models to younger engineers and to those who need inspiration to join the engineering profession,” he said.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the society uses its conferment ceremonies as an occasion to focus on issues of the day and to sensitise and inform the public on such issues.
NAN reports that the subject matter and focus of the fellowship conferment is ‘The Importance of Subsidy Removal and its Economic Benefits to Nigeria’.(NAN)