A university lecturer, Dr Tolani Hassan, has advised the Federal Government to reflate the economy, stabilise the oil sector and create employment opportunities to reverse the current economic recession.
Hassan, a senior lecturer of Economics at the College of Management and Social Sciences, Tai Solarin University of Education, Ijebu-Ode, stressed the need for government to brace up its policies.
He gave the advice while speaking with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Ijebu-Ode on Saturday.
Hassan also urged government to increase its spending on capital projects in order to stimulate the ailing economy.
The economist observed that the money allocated for capital projects in the current budgetary dispensation had not been adequately utilised by the present administration, hence suffocating the economy.
“Nigeria requires stability in the oil sector to overcome the current economic challenges.
“Though, the drift in the nation’s economy did not start with the current administration, falling prices and instability in the oil sector drove the economy into recession,” Hassan said.
He added that the recession was aided by the cumulative effect of corruption in the system, attack on oil facilities and the foreign exchange crisis.
Hassan, therefore, urged the Federal Government to continue peace talks with key stakeholders in the Niger Delta and labour unions in the oil sector to reduce current instability in the industry.
He said government must support indigenous production, improve power supply and encourage the financial service sectors to make loans available for investors at low interest rate.
According to Hassan, the measures would attract investors, promote local production and stimulate the economy to flourish again.
“Nigeria must look towards agriculture, tourism and manufacturing to get out of this economic conundrum.
“In the meantime, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) should also keep engendering policies to allow the naira to flow freely so that it can find its equilibrium,” he said.
He also lamented that the country’s credit ratings had been slashed, thus it became difficult to fund diversification of the economy into other productive sectors,” he said.
Hassan urged President Muhammadu Buhari to engage more economic managers, including seasoned economists, to chart viable economic pathways for the nation.
THE NATION
