Fall In Value Of Naira:Ben Bruce Blasts
Nigerians,We're To Be Blamed,Not
Buhari
Senator Ben Murray-Bruce is bruised and
this time
he wants you guys to see how far he has gone to
GrowTheNaira. He thinks we are fooling
ourselves by
blaming the government for our woes.
See His CommonSense rants below:
Many Nigerians are complaining about the constant
fall in the value of the Naira and they
blame the
Government.
But is the government really to blame? In
truth, our insatiable appetite for all things foreign is
to blame.
I always fly Arik Business Class
whenever I am
traveling abroad except Arik does not fly
on that route.
Not only is an Arik ticket a fraction of the
cost of a
British Airways ticket, but the money I
pay to Arik
circulates in Nigeria and helps firm up the Naira’s
value.
As I speak to you today, a British Airways
Business
to London is ₦2,103,666 while Arik
Business is ₦551,545 yet our elite still fly BA
But though Arik offers an affordable
alternative to
British Airways and other foreign airlines,
our big
men prefer to pay double what Arik charges to BA
and other foreign airlines for the same
services and
yet they complain about the value of the
Naira.
I have Nasco cornflakes and I have eaten Kellogs
cornflakes. In terms of nutrition and taste
they are
almost indistinguishable. Yet our elite
who will
rather eat Kellogs than Nasco cornflakes, wonder
why the Naira is falling!
Even something like Quaker Oats can be
substituted
with corn meal known locally as pap.
Obasanjo Farms of Nigeria and other large scale
poultry farms have the capacity to
provide chicken
for the entire nation. Since that is the
case, why are
we even buying imported chicken? In fact what is wrong if every family in
Nigeria has
a poultry in their backyard to give them
eggs and
meat?
My steward went to Makoko, which is one of the
largest fishing communities in Lagos. He
wanted to
buy fish and they were selling imported
frozen fish!
Yet in the very waters in front of them, there exist
fresh fish that is more nutritious than the
cheap
frozen fish they were selling.
We keep spending over 1 Billion Naira
importing rice when our own farmers are capable of
meeting our
national demand for rice. But for some
reason,
Nigerians just prefer to buy imported rice.
The imported rice we buy in Nigeria is not as good
as our local rice because it has been
stored for
years in silos and treated with chemicals.
Moreover, every time you buy it, your
money is going out of Nigeria to service an
economy in Asia.
The end result is that their currency gains
value
while ours loses value.
Have you ever wondered why European Premiership
Clubs are so interested in Nigeria? It is
because
Nigerians spend billions traveling to
Europe to watch
their games, buy their merchandise and promote
their leagues.
Yet, back at home, we would not be
caught dead
watching our own local league.
If we will not spend money on made in Nigeria
goods and services, how can we expect
our Naira to
hold its value and appreciate?
Obviously we can not cut ourselves off
from the world. No nation is an island, but at least
we can
fly Nigerian airlines, eat locally produced
food and
patronize our football league.
If we do this, not only will our economy grow and
produce jobs for Nigerians, it will also
make our
goods and services improve in value such
that they
will be attractive enough to be imported. I bought Innoson vehicles as official cars
for my
staff. I have never lived to regret it one
day. They
are comfortable and durable. But most of
all, I know that my purchase helps to keep
jobs in Nigeria
and improve the value of the Naira.
I urge you to do the same. We have no
other
country but Nigeria and it is you and I that will
make it what it is.
If we buy Naija We Will Grow Naira
My name is Ben Murray-Bruce and I just
want to
make Commonsense! #BuyNaijaToGrowTheNaira #Copied Your opinion pls???
