Central Bank of Nigeria funds post-graduate economics centre at university

Nigeria’s central bank has funded the construction of a post-graduate economics centre at one of the country’s universities, it announced.

The post-graduate “centre of excellence” at the University of Nigeria’s Enugu campus was opened recently by Nigeria’s President Muhammadu Buhari.

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) did not announce how much it had spent on building the centre. It also did not say whether it would fund the programme in future. Buhari urged it to carry on supporting the centre’s operation, according to a central bank press release.

Central Bank of Nigeria governor Godwin Emefiele said the centre would allow students to study economics, accounting, business and finance in “a serene environment that would stimulate effective learning”.

Buhari said the central bank’s decision underscored his government’s “commitment to provide a conducive environment for learning at all levels of education”. Buhari’s presence at the ceremony to open the central bank-funded centre comes just days before he attempts to win re-election to Nigeria’s presidency. The presidential elections are scheduled for February 16.

The president also “lauded” the central bank “for making huge investments for the overall development of the country”, the press release said. Under Emefiele, the CBN has made large investments in industries seen as strategic for their ability to generate exports or substitute imports. The CBN has funded sugar and oil refineries, as well as starting programmes to funnel capital to small and medium-sized enterprises.

The candidate seen as Buhari’s main challenger for the presidency, Atiku Abubakar, has strongly criticised Emefiele and promised to float the country’s currency, a policy likely to be opposed by Emefiele. “I don’t think he’s pursued the right policies,” Abubakar told the Bloomberg news agency on January 16. He said that if elected, he would float Nigeria’s currency, the naira. He also said he would not offer Emefiele a second term as governor once his current mandate runs out in May this year.

In an apparent reference to Abubakar’s pledge, the central bank’s monetary policy committee formally urged that the currency should remain pegged. In the minutes of its most recent meeting, held on January 21 and 22, the MPC said the stability from the pegged naira was helping to restrain inflationary pressures. The MPC voted to leave Nigerian monetary policy instruments unchanged.

Emefiele was made governor in June 2014 by Nigeria’s then-president Goodluck Jonathan. His predecessor as governor, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, was effectively forced out of office by Jonathan. The president accused Sanusi of having leaked documents showing that billions of dollars were missing from the accounts of the state-owned oil company.