Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Mr. Godwin Emefiele, has identified the need for Nigerians to patronise made-in-Nigeria merchandise, with a view to ensuring that the country gets out of the recession it currently finds itself.

CBN Governor, Mr. Godwin Emefiele, said this to the Senate at a closed door session on Tuesday, according to Sen. Ben Bruce, Vice Chairman, Senate Committee on Media and Public Affairs, at a news briefing in Abuja.

Going by Emefiele’s briefing, the Senate expressed optimism that Nigeria would get out of the recession, saying “we need to stop importing. We are in the mess already and everybody is part of it but to solve this problem, we need to buy made-in-Nigeria goods.”

Bruce, in his comment, said that Emefiele’s appearance was in line with Section 8 of CBN Act, 2007, which requires that the, CBN should provide periodic updates to the National Assembly on activities of the bank and performance of the economy.

According to him, the governor presented a comprehensive account of the performance of the Nigerian economy in the last one year beginning with current global economic conditions, which has been characterised by external shocks, including sharp decline in commodity prices among other factors.

He also said that Emefiele disclosed that the current challenge in the country was due partly to over 70 per cent decline in oil prices from about 116 dollars per barrel in June, 2014 to about 30 dollars per barrel earlier in 2016.

He said: “We were impressed with his presentation. He explained to us, the difficulties we have on commodity prices, drop in oil prices and decline in growth for two quarters in a roll.

“This means officially that we are in a recession and we need to spend our way out of the recession, and hopefully, that is what is going to happen.

“We are optimistic that the economy will get better. Tomorrow, we are going to have the Minister of Finance; she will explain to us what percentage of the budget we have implemented and so forth.”

He also justified Emefiele’s appearance in a closed door session, saying “some information become too explosive if it is in the public domain. I think you have to understand the confidentiality of some information but what the governor kept emphasising was to start buying Nigerian products.”

•Photo shows CBN Governor Emefiele.

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