THE Emir of Kano Alhaji Lamido Sanusi declared on Wednesday in no uncertain terms that Nigeria has gone bankrupt and this bankruptcy he added was self-inflicted.
He made the disclosure while delivering a lecture on the deregulation of the downstream oil sector and Nigeria’s economic development at the National Defence College, Abuja on Wednesday.
The Kano monarch said that it is not surprising that the economy has gone into recession. He said the economy went into the present state as a result of bad policies which has in turn made Nigeria bankrupt. This he blamed on those in charge of the government over the years for failing to take stringent corrective measures.
He words:
“Nigeria is bankrupt; we are bankrupted by a policy that was foolish, that was unrealistic, and unsustainable, and by all means our refusal over the years to listen.
“We are surprised that we have an economic recession; we are actually surprised that we are in recession? We created the recession.”
On the removal of subsidy, the Kano monarch said the removal of fuel subsidy was a scam designed to benefit a few in the country.
He faulted the claims that that subsidy was meant to benefit the poor.
The emir said that the country was losing $20m on every 30,000 metric tonnes of kerosene imported into the country.
Sanusi said, “The whole issue of fuel subsidy was set up to create an opportunity for a few people to make money, and it was presented in a manner that convinced everybody that it was for the poor.
“For every 30,000 metric tonnes of kerosene imported into the country, the Federation Account lost $20m. We were importing six to eight vessels per month for six years until this subsidy unload; the Federation Account was losing from $120m to $160m every month.
“This is just on kerosene; can you imagine a country losing $120m every month to a non-existent subsidy on kerosene, and not on the PMS.”
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