Chief Economic Strategist, ECOWAS Commission, Prof Ken Ife, has said the new tariff regime spearheaded by United States President Donald Trump will put pressure on the Nigerian fiscal and monetary policies.

However, Professor of Banking and Finance in Michael Okpara University of Agriculture Umudike, Abia State, Sebastian Uremadu, described the harsh immigration policy introduced by Trump as a good development that could halt brain drain.

Ife, a renowned economist, said this, yesterday, in Abuja at the 36th Finance Correspondents Association of Nigeria (FICAN) Seminar with the theme, ‘Banking Recapitalisation Towards a One Trillion Dollar Economy’.

According to him, Nigeria, in 1993, had 89 banks, which reduced to 25 in 2005 after recapitalisation. He said: “Now, we have a much bigger need to recapitalise because we are facing a complete meltdown. This is because of the American tariff regime under Trump.”

America’s grip on the global financial system, he said, has come to an end due to the emergence of China in the global financial system. He urged the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to rise to the challenge and stabilise Nigeria’s financial system, adding that prevailing economic challenges would force the government to mount enormous pressure on the apex bank.

UREMADU, who addressed journalists in Umuahia, Abia State, said before now, Nigeria’s best brains in economy, healthcare, academics and other sectors were leaving the country in droves, to the detriment of the local economy.

He advised the Federal government to immediately utilise the opportunity of the Trump immigration restrictions to galvanise Nigeria’s economy by providing the necessary facilities for professionals to seek jobs at home.

Urging President Bola Tinubu to stop multiple taxation and high interest rates, he said they were increasing hunger in the country and affecting businesses, even as he called on the return of fuel subsidy.

Uremadu, who advised the leaders of the South East to go for political alliance with people from other geopolitical zones, said the strategy would return them to the mainstream of political relevance as they were in the past.

He warned that the low enrolment of Igbo into the army and police might deny them the positions of Service Chiefs and other key military formations in the future.