Economists From Nigeria

"Africa must trade more with itself."

"Africa has potential not only for critical minerals but also for clean energy."

"The US should also think because trade is about interdependence, and if countries decide to trade by themselves, that won't work."

"There is no country that can exist by itself."

"So I want to encourage us that whatever we need to do, let us do it right. We must not subject this institution to that type of incident again."

"The experience was humiliating for her and the entire management of the bank, said it was the first time that the bank would be investigated in its entire history."

"Throughout my period at the bank, I have one slight regret and that’s during the period I was acting governor. It was the time that the CBN was being investigated. It has never happened before that the activity of the CBN is under investigation."

"We went for the IMF meetings and when we met with investors, they asked us: ‘what is happening? We understand that there was some financial mismanagement in the CBN.’ It was humiliating."

"I think for me, that was a low point. The credibility for this institution was eroded. For an institution this important to be subjected to that is bad. At the end of the day, it was not just the CBN that suffered for it, but the economy as a whole did suffer."

"The exercise paralysed activities at the apex bank."

"The independence of the Central Bank is necessary. The Bank needs the freedom and space to take a long view of what is best for the economy and take decisions accordingly. Central Banks have consistently moved towards policy independence to pursue policies free from political interference. Although no central bank can be entirely independent of government’s influence, it must be free to choose the instruments it needs to achieve its mandate. The Bank must also be free from fiscal dominance; that is a situation where fiscal considerations unduly dictate monetary policy."

"In recent years, academics and policymakers have shown increasing interest in the independence of central banks with respect to the formulation of monetary policy. In the European Union, this interest was realized in the Maastricht Treaty, which gave the European Central Bank complete autonomy in conducting the monetary policy without political intrusion. Most empirical studies support central banks’ autonomy in the conduct of day-to-day monetary policy operations devoid of political pressure. This enables them to deliver better inflation outcomes, without compromising economic growth. The CBN Act of 2007 bestows independency on the Bank."

"The monetary policy of the Central Bank of Nigeria in recent times has continued to focus on achieving price and financial stability for economic growth and development. The persistent inflation in the last one year is an issue of concern."

"The inflationary pressure could be traced largely to structural factors, which included poor electricity supply, high cost of energy arising from scarcity of petroleum products, increase in the prices of imported food, raw materials and finished goods, seasonal factors, increase in electricity tariff, insurgency and insecurity in the North East, as well as pipeline vandalism by the Niger Delta militants. However, some monetary factors included exchange rate depreciation, and budget deficits in the face of dwindling oil revenues."

"Monetary policy management has been made difficult by the uncertain global environment, arising from political and economic developments around the world. There has been an intense attack on free trade, multilateralism and globalization and the situation has not been helped by a growing preference for nationalist interest."

"The role of Treasurer, World Bank, is one of the most prestigious finance roles globally, not only because of the volume and level of sophistication of transactions, but also because of the laudable mission of the World Bank, and the fact that it is owned by most countries of the world and operates everywhere."

"I believe that mentorship is a way to give back and contribute to preparing future generation of leaders."

"My country is a country where the entrepreneurial spirit is just outstanding. You’ve got really hard-working people who are keen to make a difference in many ways, and the capital markets provide the opportunity for people to raise capital and for people to also invest in the market."

"For any country I do feel strongly that capital markets are extremely important, but more so for Nigeria than any other, because it’s almost been 50 years since independence."

"Capacity is an understanding of the risks of investing in the market, an understanding of the products available in the market, an understanding of the role of different players."

"Evidently, a world-class capital market is absolutely essential to Nigeria’s economy."

"Academic economics is the lab, or economics in the lab, while policymaking is economics in real life."

"I believe that no one benefits when anyone is in distress. So if we don’t have capitalism that works for all and addresses all the various forms of inequalities, we will neither have prosperous citizens nor have a safe and peaceful planet."

"Economics indeed matters because it enables us to measure all aspects of the well-being of society using what I consider a common standard, especially because I do believe - like it’s often said - that it is difficult to manage what you can’t measure."

"Unlike food security, the equilibrium of traditional agriculture is not a dynamic but a static one, which has remained relatively stable for a fairly long time."

"An individual, household, country or region is food secure if its food supply balances, is equivalent to, or is in equilibrium with, the demand for it."

"...can appropriately be conceptualized as a balance, or even the equilibrium, between supply and demand and can be for the individual, family or household, a country such as Nigeria, a region such as Sub-Saharan Africa or even the continent of Africa."

"A ranking of the socio-economic activities of the women studied indicated that their most important activity was the care of children, followed by house-keeping and then trading."

"Economic considerations are a major determinant of the extent to which women are involved in farming as against processing and trading."

"The quality of what people supply affects the quality of what people buy and some farmers are willing to do anything to sell their products."

"Some farmers force fruits to ripen in different ways with different chemicals; I noticed it and called the attention of NAFDAC, but nothing happened."

"She’s a woman determined to break boundaries in the world and play a leading role in the transformation of Africa and its generation of young people"

"Governments must do a much better job as facilitators of enterprise, and not be a hindering force to SMEs that we all know are the engines of growth and employment in any economy"

""So in your quest to thrive, there will be curve-balls thrown your way and you’ll have to take risks, it’s a given. But you’ve just got to trust your journey"."

"" Globally, we are at a tipping point, as we see various forms of injustice being revealed. And so now, more than ever, the world needs brave leaders like you, and me, and all other Kellogg grads around the world, to provide solutions to the existential problems being faced by humanity"."

""It so important to find your voice and help others find theirs too, during these extraordinary times"."

""I believe what’s most important is my quest to live a life that is relevant, and it can only be relevant if I have found solutions to problems that make a difference in the world I live in"."

"As a young woman who has worked hard to promote Africa in all I do, this meant a lot to me. I was sad when due to COVID 19, I was unable to join them in person. But by God’s grace, we will do so next year"

"To demonstrate that agriculture is a money-making business, and not some charity project, and a business that can deliver some astronomical returns"

"That is the point I am making, I am saying to you that the structure is the individual Nigerians, so the question you should be asking is that, do we now have people in each of these places that have bought into the message of the ACPN of today? I am here to say to you, yes we do."

"I think the endorsement of the Nigerian people is what I’m working so hard to get right now and that is why I want all Nigerian people to get ready to vote for me. All these years, what did you get in voting in almost 20 years of our democracy? Have you not been wasting your votes? A vote for Ezekwesili gets you good governance"

"What is the definition of structure? What these politicians call structure is a captive audience of Nigerians who come out when they need them to come out. You think the structure is that they build story building? No. It is that there is a captive audience of Nigerians who have bought into their message, who when they say to them, there is a meeting at the village square, they all come out."

"I am here to change that dirty Nigerian politics. If you are waiting for me to give you money, I will not give you, I don’t have and even if I have, I will not give anybody money. You should ask your self a question: why will a person give you money to go and serve you? How does that make sense? The only explanation is that the person is not going to serve you."

"That week that you heard me declare. I got to the point listening to ‘these people’ carrying on as if we are in an ‘okay’ place. We only have an Atiku and Buhari, who are candidates of the BUTIKU family. It was very clear that we were back again in a situation where citizens have to say, we have to choose of between a lesser evil in the two men."

"Education has always been known as the pathway to progress. The early child education will be integrated."

"The way out for our youths is jobs, jobs, jobs."

"When there is no consequences for criminality, it mushrooms."

"How can the cost of education be the cost of life? It is unacceptable; it is reprehensible that we have allowed it to fester."

"Anyone who wants to tackle corruption must be willing to go all the way. There are no shortcuts."

"To reduce opportunities for corruption, you do things like structural changes in the economy."