U.S Says Nigeria’s Recession Caused By Careless Leadership

 
The United States Consul-General in Nigeria, Mr John Bray, on Thursday
said that Nigeria would be able to overcome her current economic recession
by attracting more Foreign Direct Investment.Bray gave the advice in Lagos
at this year’s Annual Lecture of the Hubert H. Humphrey Fellowship Alumni
Association. The theme of his keynote address was “The Challenges and
Opportunities of Managing a Recessionary Economy: The American
Experience.”
“As the most populous country on the continent and as the largest economy
in Africa, Nigeria clearly stands to gain from increasing its
attractiveness to foreign investors.
“As in the case for the U.S. economy, FDI offers much to contribute to
Nigeria’s ability to grow its economy and increase its global
competitiveness.
“I hope that Nigeria will use the current recession as an opportunity to
adopt and implement economic reforms to address challenges that existed
before the current recession,’’ he said. Bray said that the U.S. would
continue to be the number one destination for foreign direct investment
because of foreign investors’ confidence of fair treatment, profit
repatriation and rule of law.
According to him, the United States remains committed to helping Nigeria
realise her economic potential. Chief Olabintan Famutimi, Patron of the
Hubert Humphrey Fellowship Alumni Association, who noted that recession
was a universal phenomenon, said that Nigeria’s current economic recession
was self-inflicted.
Famutimi said that Nigeria had over these years depended solely on
revenue from crude oil, whose price was being determined by fluctuating
international market forces. The Association’s Patron also noted that
when crude oil was booming, Nigerian governments paid lip-service to
economic diversification, as well as neglected other sectors of the
economy.
“Recession is a universal phenomenon and almost all countries have had
times weathering the storms of it, including the countries that are
regarded as the most prosperous today.
“ The United States, for instance, in her 238years of existence have spent
cumulatively, about 87years in recessions, cueing from about 47 recessions
recorded.
“But importantly, the United States has on various occasions come out
better, stronger and more defined.
“We must also state that Nigeria is a very peculiar nation, whose
recession can be described as ‘self-inflicted’, because we walked right
into it through careless leadership,” he added.http://pointblanknews.com/pbn/exclusive/u-s-says-nigerias-recession-caused-careless-leadership/