Former Minister of Education, Oby Ezekwesili, has acknowledged that the administration of President Bola Tinubu has made progress in stabilising the foreign exchange rate by adhering to market principles.
Speaking in an interview on News Central Television, Ezekwesili, however, stated that the improvement has not yet translated into better living conditions for average Nigerians.
She noted that Nigerians are yet to fully feel the impact of the government’s economic reforms.
According to her, Nigeria is not out of the woods as poverty remained widespread and the cost of living continues to rise.
“The only thing that, as I said at the beginning, we can give to them is that they are getting a handle on macroeconomic stability. So, for example, the volatility we have with foreign exchange rate is quieter because they are abiding by market principles for foreign exchange policy.
“Then you look at inflation. Inflation, even though they use the methodology to crash it in terms of the numbers, but the real thing is that the cost of living for the average citizen is still pretty high,” she said.
The ex-minister equally faulted the handling of inflation under Tinubu’s administration, contending that the sharp rise in prices was avoidable and resulted from a combination of policy decisions.
According to her, macroeconomic indicators should not be viewed in isolation from the structural challenges affecting Nigeria’s economy.
She equally identified low productivity as one of the major constraints to economic growth, job creation and improved household incomes.
Ezekwesili further attributed Nigeria’s economic challenges to structural misalignments arising from policy choices that had failed to adequately address the constraints to productivity and economic opportunity.
