Recall that Aliko Dangote, the richest man in Africa in an interview with CNBC, advised President Muhammadu Buhari to embark on a wave of asset selling to boost the recession-hit economy.
“I think the real challenge for us is now for us to have the political will in terms of selling some assets such as the NLNG (Nigerian Liquefied and Natural Gas) among others” Dangote had said.
Also the Senate President, Bukola Saraki, were amongst the first to call for the sale of national asset in the face of the lingering economic crisis.
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But the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) described those calling for the sale as “economic vampires government must beware of”.
The Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) and the Trade Union Congress (TUC) also said the proposal was “a self-destructive move”.
Although the Nigerian Senate, yesterday rejected the proposed sale of the assets, stating that the country was not bankrupt, it wondered why the federal government would consider sale of national assets as an option to get out of the recession plaguing the country.
Senator Bruce, revealing his view on the sale of the assets, advised that there were other methods of taking the country out of recession.
“You get out of a recession by putting citizens to work in building new national assets like roads, bridges, schools, power stations and not by making politicians fat through selling old national assets so we can continue our lavish lifestyles!” he said