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.
Vanguardngr
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