Population Explosion: Tough Times Ahead For Nigeria — Emefiele
Governor of Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, Godwin Emefiele, Wednesday, appeared before the Senate Committee for screening to enable him serve for another five years, saying tough times await Nigerians due to impending population explosion.
According to him, Nigeria’s population will hit 425 million in 2050, the third largest in the world, unless urgent steps were taken to control it.
Emefiele, who appeared before the Committee on Banking, Insurance and Financial Institutions, led by Senator Rafiu Ibrahim, PDP, Kwara South, said impending population explosion of Nigeria and attendant economic implications would create tough times for Nigerians.
Fielding questions from senators, the CBN governor, who painted a gloomy picture of Nigeria in comparison with other countries, said with the rapid population on yearly basis and penchant for sabotaging government policies on economic growth and development, there would be serious crisis, if serious actions were not taken to control population growth.
He said with the current rapid population growth rate, there was urgent need for development – driven monetary and economic policies devoid of sabotage in anyway.
Emefiele, who was overwhelmed by the endorsement from senators, however, explained why Nigeria has multiple exchange rates.
The CBN governor said he inherited a very precarious situation that led to the skyrocketing of the exchange rate to over N500 to a dollar in one year, but noted that after serious monetary policies, it came down to N360 and had remained so.
He promised to use his second term to promote the agriculture sector through the Anchor Borrowers programme, relying on Small and Medium Enterprises, SME. He, however, lamented what he described as non-implementation of policies by Nigerians who were always looking for ways of circumventing it for their selfish interests. Vowing to continue to punish anyone caught in the act, Emefiele said: “The road ahead for Nigeria is still rough and very tough. But I want to appeal to all Nigerians that a time comes in the history of a country where you have to learn to respect the policies and laws of the country.
“Part of the problem that we have seen in Nigeria is lack of respect for the policies of this country. Nigeria is very good at putting in place policies that are sound and workable.
“But implementation has always been almost zero. And it arises because we see sabotage. We see people, when policies are made, pick up pieces of paper about the policy, what they think about is how do we circumvent this policy?
“The Central Bank of Nigeria, if given this mandate, will push very hard to ensure that those who seek to undermine the policies of Nigeria without respecting the laws of this country will be brought to book under any circumstances. And that is why I said please pray for us because the road ahead is still rough.”
