Nigerians are currently battling a harsh economy under the administration of President Bola Tinubu with no sign of things changing anytime soon.
Osun Defender reports that the country’s currency keeps falling rapidly against the United States dollar and other convertible currencies with no respite in sight.
Since President Bola Tinubu took over the mantle of leadership in May 2023, the naira has lost 74.5% value against the dollar in the parallel market with the government also failing in its promise to stabilise the naira.
The federal government had promised to achieve an exchange rate of N750 against the dollar by the end of 2023.
The chairman of the presidential committee on fiscal policy and tax reforms, Taiwo Oyedele in October 2023, said the various policies of the government would help Naira close the year at N750 a dollar.
He described the exchange rate target as the fair value of Naira against the US dollar.
He said, “We think all of that will happen before December, and maybe in a matter of a couple of weeks, we will begin to see the results, such that before the end of the calendar year, the naira should find its true value, not the one that is being done currently in the parallel market.
“The government sees a “fair price” for the dollar at N650 to N750.”
However, not only did the federal government failed in its promise, those in charge do not seem to have a solution to the problem as the naira keeps on nose-diving against the US dollar and other convertibles.
A check by Osun Defender showed that as of May 2023, the official naira to dollar rate averaged N460.70 while the unofficial market rate was an average of N758.002.
Also, a naira to Great British Pound was N569.23 at the official market in May 2023, while N950.902 was the price at the unofficial market.
The official naira to Euro was N493.38 in May 2023, while the unofficial market was N825.998.
However, a check on the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) website showed that as of Wednesday, January 24, 2024, a naira to dollar was N887.3883, one British Pounds was N1133.2836 while a Euro to naira was N969.9154.
At the unofficial market, 1 USD was 1398.083, 1GBP stood at 1744.316 while 1EUR was 1490.869 as of January 24 2024.
Citizens are now asking when President Tinubu will unleash his hidden strategies to save the naira and the Nigerian economy in general.
Kazeem Badmus is a graduate of Mass Communication with years of experience. A professional in journalism and media writing, Kazeem prioritses accuracy and factual reportage of issues. He is also a dexterous finder of the truth with conscious delivery of unbiased and development oriented stories.
