Realign your trade policy with Nigeria’s need, Tinubu tells Buhari

Former Governor of Lagos State and National Leader of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, Wednesday, took a swipe at the Federal Government’s economic policy, asking for immediate review to save the country of sliding into depression.

Senator Tinubu, who insisted that the current economic policy of the government had not done the country any good, pointedly told President Muhammadu Buhari to realign trade policy with the country’s need to create a meaningful industrial base and more potent agricultural sector.

“We can no longer allow cheap imports to preclude the development of industries and sectors strategic to our enduring economic future, “he opined.

Speaking at the National Defence College, Abuja, where he featured as a guest speaker, on a public lecture with the titled:” Strategic Leadership: My Political Experience’ Tinubu took a swipe at the President’s monetary policy, arguing that, as a strategic partner in the formation of the government, it was incumbent on the leaders to “speak truth to power.”

He said though the government had made appreciable achievements in the security sector, especially the defeat of Boko Haram insurgency in the North-East, it was necessary “to move closer to the overarching vision.”

“The desired economic restructuring will require a change in economic mindset and strategy. We must avoid the nostrums of mainstream orthodoxy that say government deficits are always bad,” he warned.

According to the APC National leader, the federal government must realign trade policy with the country’s need to create a meaningful industrial base and more potent agricultural sector. “We can no longer allow cheap imports to preclude the development of industries and sectors strategic to our enduring economic future,” he said.