By PETER EGWUATU

THE Federal Government has been advised to initiate domestic policy that will help to transform the Nigerian economy.

In an exclusive chart with Vanguard shortly after his presentation of a topic titled “Economic & Business Journalism” at a five day ongoing training programme for journalists organized by Guaranty Trust Bank Plc (GTBANK) in Ghana, Dr. Austin Nweze, lecturer, postgraduate studies in Business Journalism and Economics, Pan African University, Lagos criticized some of the imported policies of the government, saying they will not help to transform the dwindling Nigerian economy.

According to him, “What Nigeria needs now are domestic policies that will quickly transform the economy. The imported foreign economic policies will not help us at this moment because we have not reached the stage of development where the industrialized economies are.”

President Goodluck Jonathan

To this extent, he suggested that the Federal Government should decentralize the economy so that every state in the country will be able to discover its potentials and be able to develop them.

In his words, “Centralisation of the economy is one of the inhibiting factors that is making Nigeria not to grow and develop. I believe God has given each state its own natural resources and if every state is encouraged to take advantage of its potentials, then it will open up the entire economy rather than depending on few states to cater for the entire country.

If every state begins to develop its natural endowment there will be a drift of factors and other resources from some of the concentrated states to the other areas, thereby opening up the entire economy for growth and development.”

Nweze, further stated that the political economy of Nigeria was another problem inhibiting growth.

While describing political economy, he said, “Political economy is all about the means by which the political class (WHO) influences the allocation and exploitation of a nation’s or region’s resources (WHAT). It is about how the political leadership directs the course of economic progress or change in the country region.

To this extent, he advised the business leaders in Nigeria not to divorce themselves from politics, but to participate and be interested in who becomes the leader of the country.

According to him, “The business leaders should be able to influence some of the industrial policies of the government. Industrial policy is a set of policies that result from people thinking or asking the question: What can the government do for the economic system, or some specific sectors, to perform better than they are doing.”