The Vice-President of the Industrial Global Union, Comrade Isa Aremu has commended the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) for promoting financial literacy and its efforts to create employment and engender economic prosperity for Nigerians.
Comrade Aremu made the commendation on Saturday, March 14, 2020 in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State, at a one-day interactive session with members of the Organised Labour and stakeholders on the five-year policy thrust of the Central Bank of Nigeria.
Aremu, a former Vice-president of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and General Secretary, Textile Workers Union said the CBN development finance targeted intervention in agriculture was in line with the Federal Government mandate to create 10 million jobs.
He opined that the vision of the CBN under Mr. Godwin Emefiele showed that CBN had seen ahead of the challenges and the need to diversify the economy away from oil, especially in the face of the global pandemic crisis of coronavirus (COVID – 19) which is now having adverse effects on the global economy.
He added that the exclusion of the 43 items from accessing foreign exchange from the Nigerian interbank foreign exchange market was geared towards ensuring the production of these goods in which the country enjoyed comparative advantage as well as to create jobs in these sectors.
“Emefiele looks like the man that saw tomorrow and I urge the fiscal authority to compliment CBN efforts. Nigeria must produce what we consume and consume what we produce. The vision of President Buhari to create 10million jobs can only be possible if we diversify our economy,” he added.
Aremu also commended the Central Bank of Nigeria for identifying ten commodities under the Anchor Borrowers’ Programme (ABP), even as he expressed optimism that fixing the value chains of the identified commodities will provide jobs for Nigeria’s teeming population.
Also speaking, the Director, Corporate Communications Department of the CBN, Isaac Okorafor, said the essence of the one-day Sensitization session was to enlighten the organised labour on the policies and programmes of the Bank.
He said the Bank, as part of its five-year policy thrust, sought to pursue, among other goals, a single digit inflation rate in five years, a double digit economic growth rate, 10 million jobs, increase in non-oil exports from N2 billion to N12 billion, achieve 95 per cent financial inclusion, grow the National Collateral Registry (NCR) and extend the Anchor Borrowers’ Programme (ABP) to cover 10 commodities.
According to him, the Bank had commenced funding of the value chains of identified commodities, with positive results recorded in cassava, cocoa, fish, livestock & dairy, maize, oil palm, poultry, rice and tomatoes.
Okorafor also noted that the textile industry which used to be largest employer of labour was being revived and on its way back to the glory days when the sector employed teeming Nigerians and the production lines would be busy all year round.
He added that the Bank had equally funded the Creative Industry Financing Intiative (CIFI), which was established in collaboration with the Bankers’ Committee to unlock the potential of youth in the fields of film, music, and ICT.
He further hinted that the National Theatre, Igamu, Lagos had been selected as a pilot epicentre for the take-off of the N22 billion creative hub for the project aimed at ensuring that the youths are gainfully employed.
