The Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, has asked Nigerians to brace up for the current economic recession in the country, saying that it was not a 100 metre race but a marathon. Acting Director of Corporate Communications of the apex bank, Mr. Isaac Okorafor spoke in Enugu yesterday at the ongoing CBN Fair in Enugu.
The Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, has asked Nigerians to brace up for the current economic recession in the country, saying that it was not a 100 metre race but a marathon. Acting Director of Corporate Communications of the apex bank, Mr. Isaac Okorafor spoke in Enugu yesterday at the ongoing CBN Fair in Enugu.
Okoroafor said that Nigerians must do this by patronising made-in Nigerian goods instead of spending hard currencies in importing items like tooth picks from China or chickens from South Africa. He however, blamed the elites for the problems pointing out that farmers eat what they produced” “We should stop importing chicken when we have them here.
Nigeria should brace up. This is not 100 metre marathon. Let us brace up and change our ways. “The most hit now are people who have refused to realise that we ought to eat what we produce, like the elite. Farmers eat what they produce,” he said. Okoroafor stressed that the CBN had earmarked N220 billion for micro, small and medium enterprises, MSME, out of which 60 percent was meant for women and women-owned enterprises.
According to him, some states have collected as much as between N2billion and N1 billion and registering corporative members in their states in bits.
“Some states elected to pay the interest which is not more than nine percent on behalf of the beneficiaries. That is a lot of guarantee and some are recording huge success. “We also have the commercial Agricultural Credit Scheme, CACS, for larger commercial farmers.
We are for everybody. One of the greatest highlights this time is the youth entrepreneurship programme and that programme is for corps members who are either in service or finished service in the last five years,” he added.
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