Emir of Kano, Muhammad Sanusi II, on Wednesday supported the deregulation of the downstream sector and the liberalisation of the foreign exchange market.

The Emir of Kano said this while speaking at a lecture series at the National Defence College, Abuja.

The Emir sees the deregulation as a turning point for Nigeria and hopes that it would lead to the much needed change and transformation if sustained.

“The recent steps that have been taken to deregulating the oil sector, liberalising foreign exchange market, meeting with economists and setting up a proper economic team suggest that there is now attention focused on real economic issue.

“I’m much more optimistic today that I’ve been in many years as far as the economy is concerned,” he said.

A Winning Economy

The monarch said that the efforts of the Federal Government to tackle corruption and insecurity shows that there is a real focus on the economy.

“I think that the building blocks have been put in place. What the government has done by fighting insecurity and fighting corruption provides an environment where economic policies can thrive,” he added.

He appealed to Nigerians that the anticipated change would come with some form of inflation and recession, but said that Nigeria would gradually return to a booming economy.