BEVERLY HILLS, March 05, (THEWILL) – There is a popular American saying that goes: “If it ain’t broken, don’t fix it”! One has observed with keen interest media attention to the end of the tenure of CBN Governor, Godwin Emefiele, and being such a sensitive position, it is only appropriate to air one’s views.
If there is one official in the President Muhammadu Buhari administration that should get reappointed into office for another tenure, then that person should be Godwin Emefiele, the untiring head of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) due to his roundly acknowledged contribution to the nation’s MSME revitalization, ongoing agricultural revolution, the unprecedented stability of the naira in an election year, as well as the steady recovery of the economy from a difficult recession caused by the fall in crude oil price.
Nigerians have been celebrating since the Director-General, Africa Rice Center, Benin Republic, Dr. Harold Roy-Macauley broke the news on Tuesday that Nigeria has overtaken Egypt as Africa’s number one rice producer with 4 million tonnes in 2018 courtesy of the CBN’s groundbreaking Anchor Borrowers’ Programme.
If one were to objectively rank the performance of all officials during President Buhari’s first term, there is no way Emefiele would not be in the top three. Logically therefore, if any one of the present crop of public officials would be reappointed, then Emefiele deserves a second term. He deservedly should be amongst them.
This is so because the CBN, under Emefiele’s guidance and leadership, has been the main driver of President Buhari’s push to diversity the economy, which over the years solely depended on crude oil. In fact, the manifesto of the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, is a true testament of the good works of the CBN. From Agriculture and food security, industrialization, improved access to capital and power supply as well as economic policy of this administration, the CBN has made significant impact.
Today, the naira is stable and trading under N360 -$1 at the bureau de change and foreign exchange markets across the country due to Emefiele’s class act. Lest we also forget the ingenious Investors and Exporters FX trading window (FMDQ), which he introduced to boost foreign exchange availability in the country during the recession that helped Nigeria maintain steady foreign exchange inflow.
Emefiele has beyond doubt earned his seat at the table with Honours and his reappointment when his tenure expires on June 3, 2019, will be a resounding reward for hard work, loyalty and patriotism.
