A Northern group, Arewa New Agenda (ANA) says USA, China and other countries with stronger economic policies have taken over Nigeria’s economy.
ANA made the point through an expert on solid mineral resources, Mr John J Y Pakka in Abuja during a conference on tackling poverty in Northern Nigeria.
ANA whose mandate is one Arewa, one Vision and one Agenda, held a dialogue session on the theme, Moving Households from Vulnerability to Prosperity, where Pakka was opportune to present a paper on ending poverty through productivity inclusion.
Pakka during his presentation said the reality of Nigeria’s current economy is that Nigerians are living in a stolen economy and the country is only existing by the mere geographical location of the name.
The ANA event attracted high profile personalities from the Northern region, including Alhaji Mahmud Yayale Ahmed, former Secretary to the Government of the Federation who was the distinguished Chairman of the occasion; former governor of Bauchi State, Isa Yugudu; former governor of Zamfara, Ahmed Sani (Yeriman Bukura), former Senate Majority Leader, Senator Jonathan Zwingina, and the Convener, Senator Ahmad Abubakar Moallayidi.
Sheikh Khalid Nurudeen, the Methodist Bishop of Sokoto, Rt Dr Ishaya Kunama and many others attended the event where Pakka disected the state of Nigeria’s mineral resources as an abandoned sector lying unharnessed.
Pakka who said anyone who feeds you owns you, worried that China and the US are providers of Nigeria’s shelter, education, health and other basic needs of living.
The Adamawa-born mineral resources expert stressed that any nation depending on importation will have a collapsed economy.
“We are living in a stolen economy, our mobility, infrastructure, clothes, technology, agriculture are all foreign based. The over two hundred million Nigerians depend on importation. So our economy is not in Nigeria, it is elsewhere,” he said.
He added that the smart economies of the world like China have taken the bulk of Nigeria’s economy, stressing that China has smartly stolen Nigeria’s economy with impunity because they provide virtually all the country needs to survive.
“Because they provide us what we survive on, over two hundred million Nigerians are living in China. We are virtually all living outside Nigeria. Whoever you are, businessman or civil servant you are a foreigner because you are feeding on someone’s economy.
“It is only our geographical location that is Nigeria. I’m telling you the reality of our economy that whatever you think human beings need are imported, it’s the crux of the issue that’s killing our economy and bringing down our naira value to a mere tissue paper,” he said.
Pakka said however that if the government should tilt towards having proactive policies, Nigeria will have a revived economy and in six months the wide gap between dollar and naira will collapse.
He called on the federal government to use the National Assembly to create bills that are contemporary in nature with direct effects to the common man so that the margin between dollar and naira will be history.
“If Nigerian government will shift their thinking, activate solid mineral value chain, and secure agricultural value chain, put them on a platform that is exportable, bring in technology for finishing, demand on dollar will automatically fall. Because When you are not producing value you are dependent and that will certainly cripple the economy of a nation.
“By the time what you need is produced locally, we don’t need dollar. It’s unfortunate Nigeria of today is having a high demand of dollar than naira. It’s the propeller of our economic Crisis,” he said.
By Tom Garba, Yola
