Senator Murray-Bruce Suggests Solutions To Nigeria’s Economic Challenges
Founder, Silverbird Group, Senator Ben Murray-Bruce on Sunday nights raised five ways to get Nigeria out of the present economic quagmire.
Murray-Bruce who was speaking at the 2023 Silverbird Man of the Year Awards at the Eko Hotel and Suites recommended five ways in his speech.
As he put it, “I just have five key points that I want to talk about, Nigeria is in trouble right now, we have fundamental problems.”
He said ,”When I was a senator, I voted against every single loan that Nigeria asked for. I voted against it because I couldn’t understand how the country would finance the loans. At that time we were spending a lot of money on recurrent expenditure.”
According to him, the country is paying the price of the loans the last administrations had taken and it’s in trouble.
To him, Nigeria should be a construction site and for it to be a construction site it will need to build 22 million homes to catch up with the infrastructure deficit
“We need to build million of homes every year, which should be financed by banks, supported by local construction companies with mortgages provided by the pension funds. With this we will create eight million jobs and we will have a trillion Naira in VAT, taxes for the Federal Government, ” he posited.
The senator said that government has no business in building houses but the private sector, which should be funded by the banks and loans from the pension funds.
His second suggestion is on aviation where he called on president Bola Tinubu’s administration to come up with a law that will make it mandatory for all government officials to fly local carriers first as a way to boost the value of Naira.
“As a child I fly Nigeria Airways, then Virgin Airline Nigeria and later Arik. All these airlines collapsed. Now I fly Air Peace. We should not allow Air Peace to collapse.
The reason is because Air Peace belongs to all of us. If president can make a law that all government officials must only fly Nigeria carriers, first no Nigerian carrier will go under,” he stated.
Murray-Bruce stated that flying Nigeria carrier first by law should begin with governors and commissioners, adding, “Charity begins at home, we have to support our carrier and the Naira will get stronger.”
His idea about automobile industry is for Nigerians to embrace made in Nigeria vehicles. “When I was in the senate, I raised the motion that every government official should buy made in Nigeria vehicles but was largely defeated. I raised the motion that Nigeria must go green, it was defeated, I raised the motion that we should buy electric cars and by by 2025, Nigeria roads should only accommodate electric cars, the bill was defeated.
I must be only senator that did not pass a single bill in the National Assembly. We must support Innoson motors so that he can supply the cars we need in the country, ” the senator said.
On oll production and how the country can meet its capacity and also bring peace in Niger Delta, the senator suggested that the government would need to engage people that are involved in illegal refinery.
As he put it, “There are thousands of illegal refineries in Niger Delta. We have big problems. We should produce 2.4 million barrels of crude oil a day or 4 million but we produce 1.3. we are not meeting our quota. The reason is because we are not having the right conversation with the natives of the land. and the guys operating in illegal refinery.
“Instead of killing these people, government can make a deal by building modular refineries with about $10 million per one and replace hundreds of illegal refineries with one modular refinery.
Give the refinery to the community and the money to the community and let them protect the pipeline and let them own it. This is better than killing them.
He spoke about the growing Inflation, which according to him is a fallouts of high cost of gasoline and diesel with the aftermath effect telling on the consumers.
“Inflation and consumed goods is about 39 per cent. With the rise in the price of food, one realises that the farmer, the wholesalers and retailers are not making the money.
The consumers are in trouble. The reason they are in trouble is due to high transport cost. The most important minister and commissioner are for those in transport that should see to the regulation of transportation system.
“This is because the first line charge is transport. The first line charge of food from one place to another is the transport. They raise the price of goods and foodstuff because of the high cost of petrol and diesel.
Government should take position to regulate transport cost.