CBN Dismisses Governors’ Claim For Nigeria Sliding Back Into Recession

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has dismissed the alarm raised
by state governors that the economy might relapse into
recession.

CBN Deputy Governor Economic Policy Dr. Joseph Nnanna, who
represented the CBN Governor Mr. Godwin Emefiele, dismissed the
governors’ claims at the public presentation of the Spring 2019
edition of Regional Economic Outlook (REO) by International
Monetary Fund (IMF) in Abuja.

He said: “We are making smooth progress towards growth and by
end of 2019, all things being equal, we are going to likely have
between 2.8% and 3% GDP growth rate.

“Since the third quarter of 2016, when we started coming out of
recession, we have embarked on tight monetary policy in all its
ramifications.

‘’Right now, we are on the path of achieving our price stability
goal of single digit inflation.

‘’Are we going to witness increased inflation or are we sliding
back into recession? My answer is no. But is that adequate?

“My answer is no. 3% GDP real growth rate is not enough for
Nigeria where our population growth rate is 3.2%.

“Per capita growth rate is still negative but definitely, we are
not going through the era of 2016 when we had a recession. That
won’t happen hopefully. Not under CBN watch.”

The major problem afflicting the labour sector, Nnanna said, is
more of underemployment than outright unemployment “because
majority of Nigerians are employed one way or another but they are
functioning below capacity.

“They are engaged in the informal sector which is not performing
optimally. We also have a huge infrastructure deficit.

“Infrastructure is the major constrain to economic development
and growth. This has to be repaired.”

He urged the governors and other policy makers to tackle the
menace of non-inclusive growth because “it is inclusive growth that
we need in Nigeria than any other thing.”

Subscribe ToNairalaw News!

Nigeria’s Officials in Britain over Ogoniland
Clean-Up
The efforts of the Federal Government at cleaning up and
remediation of Ogoniland devastated by oil spill has received an
additional boost, as the Minister of Environment, Surveyor Suleiman
Hassan Zarma is currently leading other senior government officials
to the United Kingdom on an international working visit,
facilitated by the United Nation Environment Programme UNEP to
appraise themselves of international experiences and best practices
relative to the clean-up of large-scale contaminated sites.

Experts have said that the restoration of Ogoniland initiated by
the Federal Government of Nigeria could prove to be the world’s
most complex and longest oil clean-up exercise ever undertaken.

The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) assessed the
extent and severity of the contamination in 2011 and found severe
and widespread contamination due to oil production spanning several
decades. The Federal Government of Nigeria has committed to follow
the United Nations Environment Programme’s recommendations. Thus
upon assumption of office in 2015, President Muhammadu Bunari
underscored his resolve to restore livelihood in the
oil-contaminated Ogoniland, by creating the Hydrocarbon Pollution
Remediation Project (HYPREP), a dedicated institution to manage the
clean-up process under the oversight of the Federal Ministry of
Environment.

It is in order to equip them better to deliver on their mandate
that the Minister is leading members of HYPREP’s Governing Council
as well as other senior stakeholders currently on working visits to
five sites in the United Kingdom , as part of a series of
International site visits. These include Biogénie’s Trecatti and
Redhill soil treatment facilities in South Wales and South East
England respectively, the Coed Darcy regeneration project in South
Wales, the former Avenue Coking Works in the East Midlands, and ALS
Laboratories in North West England.

Biogénie’s Trecatti contaminated soil treatment facility in
Merthyr Tydfil in South Wales is able to clean-up a variety of
contaminants with a specific focus on soils impacted by petroleum
hydrocarbons. In addition, the Biogénie’s Redhill soil treatment
facility in South East England operates at a larger scale and can
accept a wider range of types of waste. It also acts as the main
treatment facility for London and the South East.

Biogénie’s facilities treat soil which would otherwise be
disposed of as hazardous waste. The cleaned-up soil is re-used for
restoration and landscaping, demonstrating how a treatment facility
can operate as a regional hub to accept hydrocarbon-impacted soils
from a number of sites. The Redhill facility also shows how
decontamination processes used at other sites can be scaled up.

In addition, the visit will be an opportunity for the delegation
to visit Coed Darcy, one of the largest regeneration projects in
the United Kingdom. It was formerly occupied by the BP Llandarcy
Oil Refinery until operations ceased in the mid-80s. St. Modwen is
currently working with Atkins to clean up and redevelop the site in
a sustainable way. By 2027, this redeveloped site will be
transformed into a new £1.2 billion urban village that will house
around 10,000 people.

With a legacy of coal mining, iron works, and chemical works,
Chesterfield’s former Avenue Coking Works in the East Midlands is
widely regarded as one of the most heavily contaminated industrial
sites in Europe. This site offers an opportunity for HYPREP’s
Governing Council to witness land that was redeveloped. Around
three-quarters of the site were restored for open space, community
and ecological uses, with the remainder being used for residential
and commercial development.

The international site visit will allow the delegates to observe
an extensive range of in-situ and ex-situ remediation techniques,
such as soil washing, bioremediation, thermal desorption, and
separating techniques, among others.. It is envisaged that these
demonstrations and visits will build HYPREP’s capacity to reuse and
recycle as much site-won material as possible, contributing to the
sustainability of the clean-up exercise.

Finally, ALS operates one of the largest laboratories in Europe.
The visit to their Chester laboratory in North West England will
focus on quality, accreditation, sample preparation, analysis of
petroleum hydrocarbons, reporting, and interpretation of analysis.
Delegates will have the opportunity to tour this modern laboratory
facility and identify the aspects that could be replicated in
Nigeria to increase the overall quality of local laboratories.

The United Nations Environment Programme’s 2011 Environmental
Assessment of Ogoniland evaluated that bringing back important
ecosystems to full productive health could take up to 30 years. The
report had also recommended that a USD 1 billion fund be set up for
the first five years of remediation activities – funds which have
already been committed. Once complete, the environmental clean-up
of Ogoniland could serve as a model for replication in both Nigeria
and the region.

Saghir el Mohammed
Director Press
Federal Ministry of Environment