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President Mohamadu Buhari may have, so far, given the clearest preview of his blueprint for the revival and sustenance of inclusive growth of the Nigerian economy, in a recent interview with a French media house, in Paris. Buhari’s observation on the Nigerian currency was that “the hairs has been undervalued, as it used to be around N140/$ and now it is hovering around N200/$ and above”. Consequently, the President cautioned that “I don’t think it is healthy for us to have the Naira further devalued”.

Furthermore, PMB explained that, “we are therefore getting the Central Bank to make modifications in terms of foreign exchange availability for essential industries, spare parts, essential raw materials and so on, while liberal access to “CBN’s depleting forex reserves” will be denied to importers of such things like toothpick and rice for which Nigeria has adequate capacity”. The President therefore concluded that “we don’t need to give our hard earned currency for that, but those who insist on toothpick from Europe or from China, instead of using Nigerian toothpick, they can go and source their own foreign exchange”.

What is clearly evident from the above narrative, is Buhari’s firm endorsement of the CBN Governor’s recent steps to reduce pressure of dollar demand on ‘CBN’s reserves’ and Naira exchange rate’. Indeed, PMB’s historical antecedent suggests that he was never enamored by the usually extravagant promises that a weaker naira would jump start or successfully stimulate economic prosperity.

Buhari had said in a Town Hall election campaign in Abuja, that he refused to remove subsidies on petrol and devalue the Naira when he was Head of State in 1983 to 1985, because it would destroy the economy. PMB also revealed that “when we came into power in December 1983, we were approached by the world powers at some stage to devalue the Naira, remove petrol subsidy and remove subsidy on flour, but we refused”. According to Buhari, “the issue was that if we get plenty of Naira, what are we going to do with it? We had even stopped farming and the only thing we get money from was oil and that was being paid in dollars”.

In retrospect, however, soon after he was ousted from power, the IMF came calling with a Structural Adjustment Economic Plan which they boasted would chart our course to greatness for Nigeria. Regrettably, the succeeding regime of Ibrahim Babangida, ultimately, smuggled in SAP under the guise of a home grown variant which horrifyingly debased the Naira and kick-started the odious brain drain of some of our best human assets to Europe and America and inadvertently triggered the steady descent of our economy and our national values.

Ironically, PMB is back as President, thirty years later, when the Naira exchange rate has alarmingly climbed down from less than N1=$1 in 1985 to N200/$ today; but the appropriate pricing of Naira and fuel subsidy still remain pivotal issues. There is also, growing international pressure to further devalue the Naira by between 15-20% i.e. to N230-240=$1.