Biodun Esan, Ilorin
Prof AbdulGafar Ijaiya of the Economics Department, University of Ilorin has advised the Federal Government to bypass the US dollar in its international trade transactions to save the economy from its over-reliance on the US dollar and get Nigerian masses out of their current economic predicament.
The professor made the call while speaking with Newsmen in Ilorin, Kwara State capital.
The Expert noted that Nigerian leaders can no longer blame the hardship of the country on the exchange rate due to its overreliance on the US dollar.
He, therefore, suggested that the country should bypass the US dollar since the majority of its international trade transactions are done with China and other Asian countries.
“You cannot continue to blame the exchange rate, no, Nigeria has been turned into a US dollar economy, so, we are at the mercy of the US Dollar and the question is, why continue to rely on the US dollar while more than 90 percent of what we import into this country come from the Asian countries.
“Since more “than 70 percent of our imports come from China, why not bypass the US dollar, do we have to go through the dollar market before we change our money to Chinese Yuan before buying things from China?
“Now, some Muslims are preparing to go to Makkah, the National Pilgrims Board has said Muslims should begin to pay part of the money as a down payment and a deadline has been given to pay almost N5 million. Can’t we bypass the US dollar and go straight to Saudi Riyal?” he queried.
Ijaiya, while blaming the lack of political will and commitment of the leaders, maintains that Nigeria can take a cue from other countries who are already doing it.
“Bypassing the US dollar is possible, other countries are doing it. During the Buhari administration, there was an arrangement for a currency swap with China. However, the political will and commitment to implement it were not there probably because America stood against it.
“The leadership of the country needs to have that strong political and independent mind to make decisions just like other countries have done in recent times.
“Just a month or two ago, Saudi Arabia and China had a bilateral currency swap agreement worth about $ 6 billion to bypass the US dollar. The United States could not do anything about it.
“When we are removing subsidies from petrol, Kenya did the same thing, there were demonstrations in Kenya and before you know it, the Kenyan President approached the Saudi Arabian Government to accept their Kenyan shillings for payment for petrol. That solves the problem of a hike in petroleum prices in Kenya.
“The newly formed international body called Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa (BRICS), are now trading amongst themselves bypassing the US dollar; Egypt has joined as well as other African countries.
“Nigeria is yet to join BRICS. The last time members of this organization met in South Africa, Nigeria, represented by our Vice President went there as an observer. And you call us the giant of Africa,” Ijaya said.
According to him, if we are giants, we should be in the front seat of such an important body. Do you know too, that Nigeria is yet to join the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA)? A body that would be of great benefit to Nigeria and let her rely less on the US dollar for international trade transactions, at least within Africa,
The Professor of Economics reiterated that the only way to get Nigeria out of its current economic mess is to bypass the US dollar if we are trading with countries other than the United States.
He however expressed his doubt if the ruling elites, top civil servants, big business executives, and top bank executives will not stand in the way of the policy due to having stored the US dollars in their banks and their homes because of greed.
