*Says, ‘To rescue our currency, Nigeria must join BRICS to trade with Naira instead of Dollar’
*Corroborating Hammed Eleyele on tying Naira to own natural resources
*“If friends of West are joining BRICS, why is Nigeria not there? – Falana
By BASHIR ADEFAKA
Nigeria’s respected human rights lawyer and senior advocate of Nigeria (SAN), Mr. Femi Falana, says the Bola Tinubu-led Federal Government of the country should lead the nation to signing into the membership of more beneficial BRICS, another world economic that is bloc made up of Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa.
The Ilawe-Ekiti, Ekiti State-born form Chairman of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Bar Association was speaking during an interview with Channels Television on Tuesday, during which he said to rescue the Nigerian currency, the country must join BRICS to trade with the Naira instead of the Dollar.
The human rights lawyer wondered why the country is not joining BRICS when some countries are making efforts to join the economic bloc.
Mr. Falana added that Nigeria should sell its crude oil in Naira so that buyers can source for Naira to buy the products, which he said will strengthen the naira at the foreign exchange market.
Tie Naira to Nigeria’s own resources to strengthen currency
He was speaking just after an Islamic economy and finance professional, Mr. Hammed Eleyele, told The DEFENDER that Nigeria should needs to move a step away from subjecting itself to economic slavery of the West by tying its natural resources including crude oil and solid minerals to Naira as agaibst the Dollar.
Eleyele, also an accountant, said from Kano that, “When you tie your resources even ordinary yam to your currency, Naira in the Nigerian case, even Americans will source for our Naira to buy our crude oil and gold.
“Since we as government and as people have failed to fashion a way of productivity by way of boosted local manufacturing and industrial revolution to strengthen our Naira agaibst the Dollar like it used to be before as our people have a culture of appreciating foreign products to the detriment of Made-in-Nigeria products despite achievements of former President Muhammadu Buhari in this regard, the other way our that is easiest is to tie our Naira to our natural resources.
“This way, Dollar will be no other than ordinary paper without value. Our own Naira will now carry the day with huge value because you need to devalue your devalue your as Naira will nowvdictate how much we want want to sell our crude oil or gold to the one with Dollar.
“This is the magic wand deployed by Russia, China and Saudi that, despite all the sanctions the West intended to crash them, they are now on the rise.
“Nobody is talking about Dinar of Kuwait. Has America told anyone that it needs to spend $1,500 to but One Dinar? They cannot bring Dinar on the Foreign Exchange Index because of this reason as it will only open the eyes of many. Let Nigerian political leaders open their eyes and go and know that it because of them the rest of Africa are still not out of the status of developing countries,” Eleyele said.
In the affirmative, Mr. Femi Falana on separate occasion, said, “There are countries in the world today insisting that we are not going to be tied to American dollars, and those countries are in the BRICS – Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa,” he said.
He added, “Others are joining them; Saudi Arabia has joined them. UAE, Ethiopia, Egypt, and all that. Nigeria is not there. We cannot be more Catholic than the Pope.
“If friends of the West are joining BRICS, why are we not there? So that we can trade in naira.
“If I had my way, my own radical policy would be that I would sell Nigerian gas and crude oil in naira. Let those who want to buy our products look for naira. That is how to promote your currency.”
In August 2023, Vice President Kashim Shettima represented President Bola Tinubu at the 15th BRICS summit which was held at the Sandton Convention Centre, Johannesburg, South Africa.
Speaking on the sidelines of the summit, Shettima said Nigeria did not apply to join BRICS and that there are many variables to be taken into consideration.
BRICS, which considers itself a counterweight to Western powers, disclosed at the end of the summit that new members would be joining its fold on January 1.
The new members are Argentina, Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
‘Discard economic policies of IMF, World Bank’
Speaking further, Falana said the Federal Government of Nigeria must reject the economic policies of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank, especially as it pertains to the removal of petrol subsidy and floating of the Naira.
He said there is no country in the world where the government does not subsidise one product or the other; and that the policies of the IMF and the World Bank cannot stabilise the country.
“The right thing to do is to reject the prescriptions of the IMF and World Bank, which are to remove fuel subsidy, float your currency, and so on. These have never assisted any country to develop. The government is dancing around the problem,” he said.
“Many of us were opposed to the removal of petrol subsidy because there is no society in the world where the government does not subsidise one product or another, even in the most advanced capitalist societies.
“That is why Nigerians must begin to ask the government to discard and jettison the deleterious programmes and policies of the IMF and the World Bank.”
The senior lawyer added that the only body recognised by the constitution to advise the president on economic matters is the national economic council (NEC) and not the IMF and World Bank.
