Former lawmaker Dr. Usman Bugaje has expressed distrust in World Trade Organization Director-General Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala’s economic assessments of Nigeria, characterizing her as aligned with Western financial institutions.
Speaking in an interview with Daily Trust, Dr. Bugaje questioned Okonjo-Iweala’s credibility on African economic matters. “I don’t trust Ngozi on matters of African economy, she’s a World Bank-IMF agent. This is my view. She must be doing a wonderful job, but on matters of African economy, I don’t, and many scholars that study development economics will not trust IMF, and will not trust World Bank,” he stated.
The former lawmaker explained his skepticism toward international financial institutions and their role in developing economies. “Because these are not institutions that are there to help us. These are institutions created by the West to supervise, monitor, and control the economy of developing countries,” Bugaje argued.
Dr. Bugaje challenged conventional wisdom on currency floating policies, citing Malaysia as a counterexample. He contended that Malaysia’s experience demonstrates the risks of floating currencies, noting how the country’s exchange rates fluctuated due to global factors beyond domestic control.
The former lawmaker predicted that maintaining a floating naira will not strengthen Nigeria’s currency against foreign exchange rates, contradicting supporters of the current policy approach.
His comments respond to recent statements by Dr. Okonjo-Iweala, who praised President Bola Tinubu’s economic reform efforts. The WTO chief had credited the president’s initiatives to stabilize Nigeria’s economy, describing the reforms as moving in the right direction and expressing confidence that Nigeria would eventually benefit from these policy changes.
SOURCE: Inkslinger
