President Bola Tinubu has encouraged Nigerians to buy products and services made in Nigeria to maintain the recent increase in the value of the naira in the foreign exchange market. On Friday, the Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Ajuri Ngelale, made this known while speaking to State House correspondents at the Presidential Villa.
According to Ngelale, the recent appreciation of the naira against the dollar is a positive development but not yet satisfactory. He stated that the rise in the value of the naira was achieved through the collaboration of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and other government agencies. Ngelale added that the CBN and other agencies were able to achieve this feat by dealing decisively with fraudulent activities on certain cryptocurrency trading platforms within the parallel market of the foreign exchange ecosystem.
Ngelale argued that a stronger naira is essential for working citizens as it would complement the new minimum wage when implemented. He said, “I am confident that Nigerians have witnessed the strengthening of the Nigerian naira against the United States dollar. This is the direction we have all wanted to go, and we are well aware that this is not the time to rest or to give accolades.”
Ngelale also stated that President Tinubu had approved several interventions to ensure a significant increase in the value of the naira against all other global currencies. The President wants Nigerians to buy made-in-Nigeria products across all sectors and value chains intentionally. He further stated that a strong currency is crucial for the spending power of Nigerians to increase, and every Naira and kobo earned should be more valuable.
According to Ngelale, President Tinubu is appealing to Nigerians to expose any fraudulent activity they witness that undermines the local currency, and he called for more collaboration from citizens in achieving this goal. He added that this is not just a government versus malicious actors’ issue, but a Federal Republic of Nigeria versus malicious actors’ issue. The activities of these actors negatively impact everyone, and all Nigerians must work together to deal with them.