How Nigerians can save the naira — Pastor Adeniyi

The lead pastor of RaveCity Church, Daniel Adeniyi, has urged Nigerians to lose their addiction to foreign products.

Adeniyi, who said he is no economist, offered the advice while reacting to the news of the naira trading at N500 for every one US dollar at the parallel market.

With the development, $1 now equals N500 and $100 is now N50,000. But Adeniyi, who, according to his Facebook profile, is also an entrepreneur, said there is still a way to strengthen the dollar.

“With N50,000, you can comfortably feed a average Nigerian family of four for 10 days in Nigeria,” the pastor began with his analysis in a Facebook post on Tuesday night.

“That’s approximately N5,000 per day: N1,000 for breakfast; N1,000 for lunch; and N3,000 for dinner.

“On the other hand, it will take a miracle to feed a family of four (breakfast, lunch and dinner) on $10 daily budget for 10 days in America.

“According to the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), an average American family of four (one male, one female and two children) spends between $600-$700 per month on feeding. That’s approximately N300,000 to N350,000 on feeding, monthly.

“Meaning an average family of four in America would need approximately $200 dollars to spend on feeding for 10 days. $200 equals N100,000.

“That’s double what an average Nigerian family of four will spend on feeding within 10 days. Naira is valuable in Nigeria.

“As long as you aren’t buying imported goods, you’re fine.

“Sadly 90 of what we use in Nigeria is imported. Until we change this narrative, our naria will keep struggling to catch up with the dollar.

“So, I think the question our social media economist(s) should dwell on is how can we reduce our import demands and increase our export ratio.

“That’s a more constructive engagement towards reducing the pressure on naira.

“I’m not an economist. The write-up above is from a realist perspective,” Adeniyi said.

The pastor later wrote on Wednesday morning that:

“I have a strong belief that our nation’s productivity will improve if Nigerians start earning their wage per hour. You earn as you work.

“Nigerians are hard working but we do not have value for time. A job that ought to take three working days to deliver, you end up waiting two weeks.

“If renumeration is attached to delivery timeline, I believe many will improve their work ethics.”