Following the criticisms by foreign media who are calling for a massive devaluation of the naira instead of foreign exchange restrictions on certain items such as rice and toothpicks by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Africa’s richest man and foremost businessman, Alhaji Aliko Dangote, has come out in strong support of the CBN’s decision, calling the ban on 41 items from forex market as "excellent and one of the best decisions taken so far by the CBN Governor, Mr. Godwin Emefiele."
Apparently miffed by criticisms in some quarters against the apex bank’s decision to restrict forex on the importation of certain items, Dangote, who is President of Dangote Group, described the CBN’s intervention as appropriate for the Nigerian economy saying, “We cannot be importing poverty and exporting jobs.”