Watch the moment CBN Governor Cardoso made a surprising Wale Edun birthday announcement in Washington
Both the Governor and Mr Edun represent vital human assets which President Bola Tinubu is confident will unlock Nigeria's true growth potential represented yearly by the GDP.
It is not always talking numbers, sieving data and forging a chart to revamp Nigeria for better fortunes, the officials responsible for managing its spending like the way Central Bank of Nigeria Governor Dr Yemi Cardoso found himself over the weekend having a simple human connection with a friend.
The time and the venue the governor seized the moment were rounding up the World Bank-International Monetary Fund Spring Meetings in Washington DC, the United States on Saturday 20 April which coincided with the Finance Minister Wale Edun’s birthday.
Having stopped the murmuring that was ensuing then came this announcement by Dr Cardoso: It is somebody’s anniversary of his birth today. That man is the Coordinating Minister of the Economy, who is Mr Wale Edun. After this came cheers and hurrahs following the birthday song.
Both the Governor and Mr Edun represent vital human assets which President Bola Tinubu is confident will unlock Nigeria’s true growth potential represented yearly by the GDP.
The Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria Yemi Cardoso singing Happy Birthday to the Minister of Finance Wale Edun on the closing day of the IMF Spring Meetings. pic.twitter.com/hW2wD0i0E9
— Juliana Olayinka (@julezolayinka) April 20, 2024
Building all the major infrastructure that Nigeria needs will no doubt take a while, until then the Governor and the minister can at least ensure that the people earn money at good value and that is what the strategic FOREX interventions have been all about.
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Optimistic Nigerians
The fantastic clique that formed the birthday minicircle earlier included Ms. Zainab Ahmed who preceded the celebrant as Nigeria’s finance minister under President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration.
Ms Ahmed who has been a World Bank Group Alternate Executive Director for Angola, Nigeria and South Africa since 10 July 2023 made part of a stakeholder audience who witnessed entries from the central bank governor and Mr Wale Edun.
The incumbent finance minister’s address at the Saturday press briefing no doubt inspired optimism. This is because it exposed the blueprint which Mr Edun and his team have been working to cultivate using the United States as a model. During its Covid-19 recovery, the US, the minister noted kept interest rates high to bring down inflation and yet at the same time growing. This what we need to achieve in Nigeria, says the minister.
And of course, the more buffers and savings you have, the stronger position you will be. What we are looking at is to go and mobilise those savings, those dormant savings that were in the easy areas, government securities, to bring them out and use those savings to grow the Nigerian economy.
So, that overall, is my sense of where we are, and what we are trying to do. And I’ll just end on this note, there’s much more optimism in Nigeria and amongst Nigerians. And from what I understand as well, amongst our development partners and even you the institutional investors, the foreign investors. I think we just want to keep on with that trajectory. Thank you.
Ayodelé is a Lagos-based journalist and the Content and Editorial Coordinator at Meiza. All around the megacity, I am steering diverse lifestyle magazine audiences with ingenious hacks and insights that spur fast, informed decisions in their busy lives.
