President Bola Tinubu has called on Nigerians to support locally-made products and services in order to maintain the recent gains made by the naira in the foreign exchange market.
This call was reiterated by the Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Ajuri Ngelale, during an address to State House correspondents at the Presidential Villa on Friday.
Ngelale highlighted the recent appreciation of the naira against the dollar as a positive development, but stressed that there is still room for improvement. He credited the strengthening of the naira to collaborative efforts between the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and other government agencies.
According to Ngelale, this achievement was facilitated by decisive actions taken against sharp practices observed on certain cryptocurrency trading platforms within the parallel market of the foreign exchange ecosystem.
Ngelale emphasized the importance of a stronger naira for working citizens, particularly in complementing the implementation of the new minimum wage. He stated, “President Bola Tinubu wants to communicate very clearly to our people that there has never been a more important time in our history to actively agree together that we will patronize and purchase made-in-Nigeria products across all value chains, across all sectors.”
He continued, “There is an intentionality that we must have on this issue, and we want a strong currency. We want the spending power of our people to go up. We want every Naira and kobo we earn to be more valuable, not just here, but when we travel abroad, the way to achieve that is by doing just this.”
Ngelale further emphasized President Tinubu’s call for collaboration from citizens and encouraged them to report any observed practices undermining the local currency. He stressed that dealing with such issues requires collective effort, stating, “This is the Federal Republic of Nigeria versus malign actors’ issue, and the activities of these actors negatively impact everybody. So all of us have to take up the mantle and agree that we will collaborate to deal with these issues.”
President Tinubu’s push for the promotion of made-in-Nigeria goods and services reflects a broader effort to bolster the nation’s economy and ensure the stability and growth of the Nigerian currency amidst global economic challenges.
