Economic reforms Programme in Nigeria

Economic Reforms are policies adopted towards achieving improvement in the economy. The policies can either be aimed at reducing the size of the government or privatizing government owned firms. It can also be about re-adjusting tax policy.

Consolidation of the Financial Institution

The Consolidation of the Financial Institution as introduced by then Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor Prof. Charles Soludo  2005 mandated every banks to have a minimum capital base of  twenty five billion naira. This led to various merging and acquisition among and between various banks. This drastic [positive] measure has helped to sanitize Nigeria’s banking sector, ultimately making it more effective and efficient such that Nigerian banks can now compete with banks at international level.

Privatization and Commercialization

Privatization is a situation whereby organizations that are formerly issued by government are sold to private individuals (i.e. companies formerly owned by private individual E.g. NEPA). Commercialization can also be defined as making state owned and highly subsidized enterprises more profit-oriented. State owned enterprises are ideally not meant to be overtly profit-minded. But when they are commercialized, it means that they can finally operate as private firms and make profit.

Indigenization and Nationalization

Indigenization can be defined as reducing or eliminating foreign ownership of firms in a country. Nationalization is the direct opposite of privatization. It is a situation where an organization formerly owned by private individuals is now owned by government.

EFCC and ICPC

Economic and Financial Crime Commission is an anti graft agency saddled with the responsibility of investigating and prosecuting individuals accused of economic and financial crimes.

Independent Corrupt Practices and other related Offences Commission is a wider anti graft agency responsible for prosecuting charges alleged against individuals which are social, economical, marital in nature.

National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control is an agency saddled with the responsibility of ensuring that food and drugs locally produced or imported meet the acceptable standard before they are sold to final consumers. NAFDAC achieve this objective by visiting local production firms and also running a test on random samples of different locally and foreign products in its laboratory.

Standard Organization of Nigeria (SON)

SON is an agency that ensures standard in locally produced or imported goods. SON has the same responsibility as NAFDAC. The major difference is that whereas theirs is on a larger scale, NAFDAC’s jurisdiction is limited to food and drugs alone. Succinctly put, SON is a government agency saddled with the responsibility of ensuring that all goods locally produced or imported are of acceptable standards before they are sold to final consumers.

ASSESSMENT (POST THE QUESTION TITLE AND YOUR ANSWER IN THE BOX BELOW FOR DISCUSSION AND EVALUATION)

1. _____ are policies adopted towards achieving improvement in the economy
   (a) economic perform
   (b) economic reform
   (c) economic deform
   (d) economic inform
2. Government can achieve improvement in the economy by doing all of the following except
   (a) reducing the size of the government
   (b) privatizing government owned firms
   (c) re-adjusting tax policy
   (d) importing more goods than exported
3. The Consolidation of the Financial Institution as introduced by then Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor Prof. Charles Soludo was carried out in
   (a) 2002
   (b) 2003
   (c) 2004
   (d) 2005
4. The situation whereby organizations that are formerly issued by government are sold to private individuals is known as
   (a) privatisation
   (b) consolidation
   (c) indigenisation
   (d) permutation
5. The agency that ensures standard in locally produced or imported goods is
   (a) NAFDAC
   (b) SON
   (c) EFCC
   (d) ICPC