Stop consulting IMF, World BANK, foreign experts alone on policies, NES, NAMM Presidents, NISER ex-DG tell FG

…NAMM urges young scholars in modeling career prospects

The Nigerian Economic Society [NES] President, Prof. Adeola Adenikinju; his Nigerian Association of Macro-economic Modelers [NAMM] President, Prof. Philip Alege and a former Director-General of the Nigerian Institute of Social and Economic Research [NISER], Prof. Olu Ajakaiye, have called on the Federal Government to stop consulting foreign experts, the International Monetary Fund [IMF] and the World Bank alone without getting inputs from Nigerian experts and economic associations.

The experts emphasised that the government ought to integrate Nigerian experts into the policy making for them to peer-review the suggestions by foreign experts and institutions.

They made the call during the third annual hybrid NAMM international conference, which was held at the University of Ibadan, Ibadan, Nigeria.

The conference had the theme: ‘’Macro-economic Modeling and Data Science for Socio-Economic Development’’.

The programme was supported by the National Bureau of Statistics[NBS], Centre for Petroleum, Energy Economics and Law [CPEEL], UI, Nigerian Economic Society [NES], CAPE Economic Research and Consulting and others.

The conference brought together a diverse group of stakeholders, including academics, researchers, policymakers, and industry professionals, to deliberate on critical macroeconomic modeling and data science issues in Nigeria.

The eggheads urged the government to make use of economic models more in policy formulation and making for optimum economic performance.

In his remarks, Adenikinju maintained that it was important for the government to consult Nigerian experts, not just relying on foreign institutions alone.

The NES president said: ”Economic policies have become too sophisticated, that you cannot make them on the basis of intuitions or without proper evidence-based framework. So, you need to have a model that will help you to put all of that analysis in a framework.

”It is very important that the government also consult local experts as they consult foreign partners instead of just relying on the IMF and the World Bank to resolve some of these. When they go to the IMF, the World Bank, India or some of these other countries, their local experts will bring their models. So, models will work with models.

”The government should not just listen to foreign speakers, and foreign experts, but get our own local experts to also be there at the table”.

On his part, Prof. Ajakaiye,who is of African Centre for Shared Development Capacity Building (ACSDCB), Ibadan, said the government needed to do more in terms of using models in decision-making and involvement of local macroeconomic modelers.

The professor also called on the government to listen to their own experts before receiving advice from their friends from outside.

The former DG of NISER said: ”The Federal Government is listening to advice from the Funds, the bank, and other development partners and organisations. But those suggestions are coming from their models, the understanding of the workings of the Nigerian economy may not be exactly what is in those models.

‘’It is important that before the government accepts the suggestions, it should send the suggestions back to their peers here for reviews and reconciliation. It is in that meeting with experts, and their colleagues from Nigeria that they will then be able to open up their models and reveal their assumptions. Then, Nigerian experts will be able to ascertain if the assumptions are correct or not exactly correct’’.

He explained that by patronising local experts, they would be able to address the emerging challenges during implementation.

The professor said: ”Our government should begin by, first of all, patronising and listening to their own experts before receiving advice from their friends from outside. This is because the outsider cannot know your country better than you.

‘’In a sense, charity must begin from home. NAMM is one of the organisations the government can patronise from home”.

Also speaking, the NAMM President, Prof. Alege, underscored the importance of models in policy formulation and decision-making.

The president also urged the government to integrate Nigerian experts into the policy formulation of the government.

The NAMM president said: ”Before you can make policies, you must understand the working of the system. The major thing that economists do is to understand the working of the system, translate them into what we call models. A model is just a mathematical representation of your understanding of the working of the system. Once you touch any sector, it will have a reverberation on the other sectors.

”We are also showcasing what we can do so that governments can begin to test us. The government should look at our side. The foreign institutions and experts are not doing better than us. This is the economy we see every day. Governments should patronise us, encourage us, help us in capacity building”.

Also speaking, the Vice President of NAMM, Prof. Olusanya Olubusoye; Prof. Afees Salisu, Prof. Chris Kalu, Dr Chinedu Nwosu, Dr. Olaoluwa Yahaya, Dr Michael Adebiyi, a former Director of Research Department, Central Bank of Nigeria; and others called for an adequate use of models for robust decision-making.

They also charged young scholars in macro-economic modeling to be meticulous and serious about research works, adding that there are ample career opportunities in the sub-sector.

END