Reno Omokri, a sociopolitical critic, has said Nigerians should not blame President Bola Tinubu if the naira further depreciates to N2414 to a dollar.
Omokri said the rate at which Nigerians import food items from China, Thailand and other countries would further depreciate the naira.
Lamenting that Nigeria spends $6 billion on food importation annually, Omokri harped on the need to patronize locally-made goods.
Posting on X, Omokri wrote: “Nigeria imports almost $6 billion in food annually. And what are we importing? Rice from Thailand that we can grow in Nigeria. Toothpick from China that we can manufacture ourselves. Even annoyingly, we import pizza. What is in pizza that we cannot make ourselves?
“Let the Naira fall. It is good. When we can no longer afford imported food, we will be forced to eat homegrown food. We can’t import table water, milk, salt, and matches and then blame Tinubu when the Naira falls to ₦2414 to one Pound. As Fela sang, ‘Na your fault be that’! If you want the Naira to rise, then do the following: Instead of MTN, Airtel or Etisalat, use Glo Instead of Mercedes, Range Rover, or Honda, buy Innoson, Fly Air Peace over Air France, KLM, or Lufthansa, Bank at First Bank, UBA, GTBank, and Zenith over Stanbic, Watch AriseTV, Channels and NTA over Multichoice DSTV
“Buy Dangote and Ibeto cement, and avoid Chinese brands, Watch and buy Enyimba FC, Kano Pillars, and 3SC over Manchester United, Barcelona, PSG, and Napoli.
“Nobody is coming to save Nigeria. It is only Nigerians that will save Nigeria. Local brands may or may not be as good as foreign ones, but with continued patronage, they will improve in quality. Buy them, and your Naira will rise along with your personal happiness and the international rating of the green Nigerian passport. Your value is tied to Nigeria’s value. Buy Nigerian and Nigeria’s foreign reserves, trade balances, and debt to GDP ratio will automatically improve.”