• Ohanaeze Ndigbo Youths warn of a looming crisis
• NANS threatens total death, challenges NLC, TUC to speak up
• The Northern Coalition wants to reverse it
Days after Kaduna State Governor, Nasir el-Rufai, blamed some people he described as “fifth columnists” for the ongoing shortage of fuel and naira in the state, Chairman of Southern Nigeria Governors Forum and Ondo State Governor, Rotimi Akeredolu, has called on President Muhammadu Buhari to address the issue before it snowballs into a crisis.
Akeredolu, in a personally signed statement, said people are forced to live in great pain due to shortage of naira and fuel.
In a statement titled “The President must intervene, decisively, on the Crisis of Gasoline Distribution and Currency Notes”, the governor complained: “Nigerians practically buy the country’s currency for feeding, when we are not at war.”
“This ugly development has undermined the good intentions of the Federal Government for the stability achieved in the last seven years,” he said.
Akeredolu said unscrupulous elements were behind the shortages in the fuel distribution chain and the new naira notes.
“Nigerians have been living with the scarcity of petroleum products for some time. Fuel scarcity, a phenomenon, which the current administration has been dealing with, only in the dustbin of the annals of the past, has suddenly become a permanent feature of our daily lives, and there is no solution to the perennial crisis. .
“The real struggles and fights recorded in banking halls, Automated Teller Machines (ATMs), Point of Sale (PoS) devices, and markets across the country, are troubling.
“This choice of timing for the implementation of the policy, which has an immediate negative impact without discernible mitigation, raises serious suspicions of partisanship on the part of the CBN.
“Ordinary people are victims. Depositors can no longer access money, even to support their families. Hunger is not the anticipated outcome of monetary policy,” the governor said.
Meanwhile, the apex Igbo socio-cultural organization, Ohanaeze Ndigbo Youth Council Worldwide, has warned the Federal Government of national chaos, if it does not end the hardship and poverty Nigerians are facing as a result of the redesigned naira. notes and acute fuel shortages.
The group issued the warning, over the weekend, as Nigerians continue to suffer from shortages of redesigned naira notes and high petrol costs.
The youth said that there is a plan by some elements to sabotage the 2023 general elections and therefore, destroy the nation’s democracy.
A statement by the National President, Mazi Okwu Nnabuike, said the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) must act before it is too late, pointing out that #EndSARS protests will be child’s play compared to what is about to happen in the country. the next few days.
“How do you explain the situation when poor parents can no longer give children? How do you explain the situation of sick relatives who are left to die because there is no money to buy medicine, while the money is stuck in the bank?
“We can no longer remain silent in the midst of avoidable chaos. There is no doubt that the policy, as launched by the CBN, is a good one, but there is also indisputable evidence that the apex bank is not prepared for its smooth implementation.
Nnabuike continued: “This is why we remind you that ‘enough is enough.’ If the CBN cannot provide new notes, it should extend the deadline beyond February 10, and should allow commercial banks to distribute old notes that are waiting for the time when the new notes are available in the right amount.
“Anything less than this is an invitation to avoidable anarchy and mayhem, because Nigerians are impatient. Pictures and videos from around the country say it all.
In the same vein, the National Association of Nigerian Students South West (NANS Zone D), has threatened to shut down the country, if the Federal Government fails to address the new naira and fuel shortage.
This was in a statement in Ibadan by the Public Relations Officer, (NANS South West), Awoyinfa Opeoluwa.
The student body said it needs to address the press about the level of hardship faced by students, workers and Nigerians, in general.
Opeoluwa said there was low cash flow, poor banking networks, high fuel costs and fuel shortages to name but a few.
He urged President Muhammadu Buhari to act quickly and arrest the situation.L
Also, the Coalition of the Northern Group (CNG), demanded an immediate reversal of the policy of limiting cash withdrawals from the Central Bank of Nigeria, and a set period for the exchange of old naira notes.
The group said Nigerians cannot be expected to tolerate the height of the CBN governor, Godwin Emefiele, who has pushed the country.
A statement by the CNG Spokesperson, Abdul-Azeez Suleiman, described Emefiele’s views on the short deadline for naira swaps and restrictions on cash withdrawals as “insensitive, irrational, thoughtless and a clear recipe for disaster.”
“CNG wonders if a government appointee will consider his arrogance bigger than his life status to push the difficult situation in the entire country just to achieve his personal desires.
“It is important for Emefiele to start accepting the fact that no one owns Nigeria and Nigerians, and the nation is angry and will not be expected to tolerate, condone or allow acts of harm by officials who choose to play God,” he said. .
CNG warned that there was already national anger at the mass suffering inflicted by the new regime’s economic policies that were clearly not working.
“Already, the confusion is there, many households are going hungry, businesses are closing shop all over the country.”
He added: “It is the height of official impunity to assert, and implement financial policies in an unstable economic environment that does not have the necessary infrastructure to operate.
“Based on this, the CNG, categorically, rejects the totality, any more attempts to create confusion in the country with the rigidity of one person, whoever the person is. cashless system so that everyone can understand the system, because there is a high level of illiteracy.
“We reject this unconscionable policy that is being imposed on Nigerians without the government providing uninterrupted power supply and adequate communication links.
“The imposition of these policies without addressing the issue of network failure is also suspicious, a hidden agenda and therefore unacceptable,” the statement said.
Akeredolu continued: “There is discontent in the country and unless some important redemptive measures are taken to overcome the destructive effects of the seemingly indecent and unseemly interference in simple life, some events with unfortunate consequences are inevitable.
“There is a palpable anger of frustration in the country. The wave of discontent is rising with unbelievable speed across the country.
“The difficulties experienced by ordinary people today have unpleasant consequences. These crises can lead to a chain of events, the end of which can only be imagined.
“The Federal Government should make a categorical statement on the availability of petrol and its price because there is a public belief that the country is still paying huge subsidies.
“The situation that allows some people to suffer in the public, seemingly unchecked, is very unfortunate. The Governor of the CBN, Godwin Emefiele, should come clean about the new monetary policy. Nigerians practically buy the national currency to feed us when we are not in a state of war.
“The fact that the ruling party hopes to present a candidate for election in the general election in the coming weeks confirms the level of suspicion, about the possibility of certain elements whose interests are different from the general aspirations of the party and its commitment. members.
“There is no better way to de-market the brand than the execution of this destructive motive. The Federal Government, through the President, must act now,” he said.