By; Jacob Onjewu Dickson
Senator Ben Murray-Bruce has on Tuesday taken a swipe at Nigeria’s elite, blaming them for the woes befalling Nigeria’s standard currency, the Naira.
In his usual ‘making sense’ statement, he described their hypocrisy in tackling the fall of the Naira as unfortunate, insinuating that they are merely paying lip-service, instead of doing the right thing.
“Many Nigerians are complaining about the constant fall in the value of the Naira and they blame the government. But is the government really to blame? In truth, our insatiable appetite for all things foreign is to blame.
“I always fly Arik Business Class whenever I am traveling abroad except Arik does not fly that route. Not only is Arik ticket a fraction of a British Airways (BA) ticket, but the money I pay to Arik circulates in Nigeria and helps firm up Naira’s value.
“As I speak to you today, a British Airways Business to London is N2,103,668 while Arik Business is N551,545 yet our elite still fly BA. But though Arik offers an affordable alternative to BA and other foreign airlines, our big men prefer to pay double what Arik charges to BA and other foreign airlines for the same services and yet they complain about the value of the Naira,” he observed.
Speaking on how locally produced snacks are abandoned for their foreign counterparts, he explained that our local industries are suffering the impact.
“I have Nasco Cornflakes and I have eaten Kellogs Cornflakes. In terms of nutrition and taste they are almost indistinguishable. Yet our elite who will rather eat Kellogs than Nasco wonder why the Naira is falling.
“Even something like quaker Oats can be substituted with corn meal locally known as pap. Obasanjo Farms of Nigeria and other large scale poultry farms have the capacity to provide chicken for the entire nation. Since that is the case, why are we buying imported chicken?” he queried.
He argued that the over N1b spent on importing rice annually can be saved when the local rice that is more nutritious is consumed.
“No nation is an island but at least we can fly Nigerian airlines, eat locally produced food and patronize our football league. If we do this not only will our economy grow and produce jobs for Nigerians, it will also make our goods and services improve in value such that they will be attractive enough to be imported,” he advised.
