Omokri Says High Taste Of Nigerians For Imported Goods Responsible For Naira Depreciation

By Ayodele Oni

Reno Omokri, a social media critic has blamed continued depreciation of the Naira on some recent policies of the Central Bank of Nigeria, (CBN) and high taste of Nigerians for Imported products.

According to Omokri, the CBN has dumped the age long practice of “defending the Naira with $1.5 billion every month. It is not because of any act of bad.”

He stated in a statement that “While I condemn the Senate for buying foreign-made SUVs, this is not why the Naira is ₦1310 to a dollar.

“The reason behind the sudden drop is because the Central Bank of Nigeria abruptly stopped the decades-old practice of defending the Naira with $1.5 billion every month. It is not because of any act of bad governance. It is a deliberate fiscal policy known as floating the Naira.

“Before this, we were spending more money subsidizing the Naira than we were spending on fuel subsidies. And as a result, we were subsidizing imports.

“The idea behind the policy of floating the Naira is that Nigerians should change their consumption habits and buy more made in Nigeria goods. That way, the $1.5 billion a month can be spent on something more productive. It is a good policy, which all of us should support.

“77 million Nigerians use MTN. Another 60 million use Airtel. That is 137 million people spending $20 million daily on data and phone calls. That money is going to South Africa and India.

“25 million Nigerians spend an average of $15 monthly on DSTV. That is $375 million going to South Africa. Last year, Nigerians spent £25.3 million on 644,452 bottles of imported champagne.

“We spend $75 million on imported whisky. Those funds are leaving our economy to service the British, French and South African economies.

“Nigerians also spend nearly a quarter of a billion dollars importing human hair, bleaching creams, fake eyelashes and other cosmetics.

“This is more than we spend importing books. The funds are going to India and Asia, and those countries are not buying made-in-Nigeria goods. Please fact-check me on all these data.

“So given these consumption habits, if you were President, would you continue to invest $1.5 billion in subsidizing the Naira so your citizens can waste it on such mundane things? Perhaps not.

“You can actually play a role in growing our economy. You post photos of yourself on social media wearing foreign designers and jewellery and powerful cars.

“Of course, it is your money, and you can do whatever you want with it. But if you are going to criticize the drop in the purchasing power of the Naira, it may not be a bad idea to lead by example and post photos of yourself with made-in-Nigeria clothes and other products once in a while. Otherwise, you will be telling your followers to do what you are not doing.”