There are many times Nigerians have asked themselves why so much suffering in the land. While the Finance Minister, Kemi Adeosun has dismissed 'recession' as just a word, the CBN governor has painted a very dark and gloomy picture of the present realities. Godwin Emefiele's statement, Wednesday, stopped short of saying, 'there's no hope at all'.
From his statement, Nigerians may just need to brace up for harder times.
Paparazzi gathered that Emefiele, in a closed-door meeting with the Senate, told the distinguished members, that the Federal Government may not be able to pay its workers’ salaries, effective from October this year if the current economy decline continues, a statement Nigerians experts have largely interpreted as defeatist because the government is yet to present a clear road map for economic recovery.
Said an analyst "This is a very dire situation. If the CBN governor made such a statement, it means the government is clueless. It means government has run out of options. Imagine, if he can say until the economy improves without giving us a clear target toward economic recovery, then Nigerians are in for a long haul."
As if that is not bad enough, the CBN governor revealed that Nigerians will be made to pay general taxes, a policy which experts say is already being effected with such taxes as GSM taxes springing out of nowhere.
According to Paparazzi analyst, general taxing will lead to untold hardship on the common man: "How can you tax a stagnant economy, an economy that is not growing? How can a man without an income be expected to pay tax?'
In the meeting, Emefiele presented a dismal comprehensive account of the economy in the past year and stated that it was not in a good state.
With inflation galloping, economy in recession, manufacturers closing shop, airlines, shipping lines and other big businesses moving to better managed economies, Nigeria truely has never had it so bad.
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