Buhari Listens to Soyinka’s Advice, Takes New Action to Save The Economy

President Muhammadu Buhari has approved the convocation of a national economic conference aimed at rallying the country together to offer solutions to the current economic challenges facing Nigeria.

A top government official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, disclosed this to a group of journalists in Abuja.

Buhari's approval came a week after Nobel laureate, Prof. Wole Soyinka, called on the President to summon an emergency economic meeting to recommend specific solutions to the nation’s prevailing economic challenges to save the country’s economy from further drift.

Last week, the nation’s currency slumped drastically against the dollar due largely to scarcity of the foreign currency and the tough regulations of the Central Bank of Nigeria.

This led to spiralling inflation in the country since most products are produced abroad, putting the our meager foreign reserves and currency under intense pressure.

The price of crude oil in the international market is still within the $30 range, meaning less money.

Soyinka, who made the call when he visited the Minister of Information, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, in Abuja last Thursday, had said experts and consumers should be invited to the meeting.

He had said: “The President should call an emergency economic conference with experts to be invited – consumers, producers, labour unions, university experts, professors, etc. I think we really need an emergency economic conference, a rescue operation, bringing as many heads as possible together to plan the way forward.”

It's good that Mr President heeded the wise counsel. Sources say the economic conference will hold March 10, 2016. Nigeria needs to rise, we need manufacturing and production. Let the action begin!