The Acting Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Lagos State University of Education, Dr Nosiru Onibon, accused Nigeria of accepting the International Monetary Fund (IMF) loan years back out of greed.
Onibon made these assertions during the Anwar-ul Islam Movement of Nigeria Ramadan lecture in Agege, Lagos.
The Associate Professor stated that the IMF is one of the major challenges bedeviling the economic growth in the country.
He argued that the nations who borrow money from IMF have a higher rate of poverty, unemployment and inflation because despite the palliatives given to the people, the poverty has become greater.
“From 1999 till today, the numbers of intervention programmes the politicians and philanthropists have embarked upon are enough to alleviate poverty, yet the number of poor people continues to increase.
“In 2019 the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) reported that four out of 10 Nigerians were poor meaning 40 percent of Nigerians are poor. In 2022, report says 6.3 out of 10 Nigerians were multi-dimensionally poor, meaning 63 percent of over 200 million Nigerians are poor. Today, the number of beggars is increasing, whereas the palliative is supposed to reduce poverty.”
“When I was in Malaysia, the president of our university told us that he was in the cabinet of the government for about 17 years. We asked what the secret of Malaysia’s development and he said, firstly we don’t collect IMF loans. All the countries that collected IMF loans are crawling except the stubborn ones. The year they came to sell IMF to Nigeria, it is not as if we don’t have enough but we accepted it out of greed,” he said.
He explained that to revamp Nigeria’s economy, the cost of governance must be reduced, adding “Malaysia refused to take an IMF loan and they go prudent with what they have. There is a need for us to cut the cost of governance and the money realised should be used for the development of the country.”
Dr Onibon urged President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and all political holders to renew their intentions to rebuild the country as this will put a smile on the face of the masses, urging the government to institutionalise charity rather than giving out palliative.
“The citizen should also renew their intentions. The success of this country depends on our intentions. All decisions and policies that are taken out of sincere intention will always end in a good way. Let the leaders and followers renew their intentions and be disciplined. What is the essence of a constitution or a law that is not implemented? It is as good as it doesn’t exist. The government should summon the courage to punish criminals. The kidnappers and those who embezzle our money must not go unpunished. Our insatiable greed led us to this insanity.”
He urged Nigerians to be kind to one another as this will bring prosperity to the country.
Alleluia is the Assistant Editor and Content Writer at LagosPost.ng. She is a prolific writer and editor, she has written features and news stories on Lifestyle, Sports, Business, Politics and B2B marketing. She is also an event coordinator, host and social media content creator.
