Target equitable growth and development, CIS President tasks Buhari

Mr Oluwaseyi Abe, Chairman, Council of Chartered Institute of Stockbrokers (CIS), has challenged President Muhammadu Buhari-led federal government to pursue equitable growth and development holistically in order to move towards true prosperity as a nation.

Abe, at the 20th Stockbrokers annual conference in Lagos, while delivering his welcome address said that there is a defect in the way Nigerian economy is structured, adding that the economy is monolithic and not shock-resistant.

According to him, “we believe that our economy should have been proactively structured and positioned to enable it shift balances and absorb shocks or hits when they occur, without having a severe and destabilizing impact as we are currently experiencing.”

Speaking on the theme of the conference, ‘Building New Pillars and Creating New Values for Sustainable Development’, Mr Abe noted that the single pillar structure of the economy necessitates the need to build more pillars for its variegation and fortification.

The Institute, he said, “believe that Nigeria is too blessed with both natural and human resources to romance poverty instead of prosperity.”

He urged that all hands be on the deck towards recreating and redirecting the economy for equitable growth and development. He said the present economic crisis puts the nation in a difficult situation when important decisions and actions must be taken.

The CIS President commended government’s efforts in sourcing for funds for deficit spending to stimulate economic growth.

In the same vein, he applauded the CBN for the re-introduction and re-modelling of the floating single foreign exchange rate policy. He described it as a bold and positive initiative, which to him,  is in accordance with the tenets of democratic capitalism.

However, he urged the government to look beyond the short-term measures and focus towards building a more sustainable economy.

Some of the new pillars suggested by the institute to strengthen the economy include industrialisation, manufacturing, capital market, agriculture, education, leadership and value re-orientation.

Abe, also called on the government to drive towards maturity by making optimal use of the mechanism of the capital market.

The conference had in attendance the CEO of The Nigerian Stock Exchange, Oscar Onyema, OON, President of the NSE,  Aigboje Aig-Imoukhouede,  Dr Biodun Adedipe of B.Adedipe Associates,  Mr Muda Yusuf, DG, Lagos Chambers of Commerce and Industry,  as well as Opeyemi Agbaje, CEO, RTC Advisory  Services Ltd among others.