Presidential aspirant and former Deputy Governor of Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Prof. Kingsley Moghalu, has been described as Nigeria’s Emmanuel Macron.
He has also been adjudged the “most intriguing candidate” among the contenders for the presidency in the 2019 elections.
Ian King, a business presenter for Sky News, in an article published in The Times UK on Tuesday, hyped Moghalu’s credentials as well as his agenda for the country if elected president, which he presented during a recent visit to the United Kingdom (UK).
Highlighting some of the challenges which Nigeria has faced and is still facing, and concluding that it has been “the biggest disappointment” of four economies, which experts had predicted could join the fastest growing economies, the author noted that those in the race to lead the country have a lot on their plate.
He wrote; “Nigeria boasts vast resources and huge potential. It is the world’s seventh most populous nation and by the middle of the century the United Nations expects it to be the third largest, with its population doubling from the present 200 million. Moreover, that population is urbanising rapidly, with Lagos projected to become the world’s biggest city by population by 2100.
“As well as one of the world’s youngest and fastest-growing populations, Nigeria enjoys vast natural resources, most obviously oil and gas. It owns 2.2 per cent of proven global oil reserves, according to the BP Statistical Review of World Energy, while accounting for 1.3 per cent of global natural gas production. It also boasts generous gold, lead, zinc, coal and uranium reserves.
“Why, then, does Nigeria’s economy underperform so dramatically? The most obvious answer is corruption. Nigeria is ranked 148th out of 180 in the latest corruption perceptions index published by Transparency International. Corruption and poverty go hand-in-hand, poverty is still rising and so is the jobless rate, because GDP growth is not keeping pace with population growth.
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“All this will be keenly debated in Nigeria’s presidential election, due in February next year, in which the incumbent, Muhammadu Buhari, will be standing. So, too, will be Atiku Abubakar, candidate of the People’s Democratic Party, the party of former presidents Goodluck Jonathan and Olusegun Obasanjo, under whom Mr. Abubakar served as vice-president.
“The most intriguing candidate is Kingsley Moghalu, a former deputy governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria and candidate of the Young Progressive Party. A lawyer who worked for the United Nations for 17 years and who was educated in Nigeria, the United States and Britain (he has a PhD in international relations from the London School of Economics), Mr. Moghalu presents himself as a thoroughly modern presidential candidate in the mould of Emmanuel Macron.”
King, in his write up raised a poser; “Is Nigeria ready for a technocratic president? Prof. Moghalu believes so.”
Concluding, he said: “Many will wish him luck. If this is to be the African century, the continent’s biggest country must fulfill its economic potential. If it does not and poverty continues to grow, the chances are that an increasing proportion of Nigeria’s growing population will head elsewhere, adding to the global migration crisis.”
