Barely three months to the exit of President Mohammadu Buhari, Nigerians’ main expectation is that the President would be busy writing his handing over notes for the next administration. But we are all damn wrong. The former military man chose to bare his fangs on hapless and helpless citizens thus inflicting pains, agony and gnashing of teeth on all of us.
It pains me to my bone marrow to say that Buhari has now put on the toga of an Emperor in his full regalia having pretended to be a converted democrat for years. Only a man with the mind of an Emperor will wake up one morning like the Biblical Nebuchadnezzar and feels that the best way to pay Nigerians back for supporting him is to inflict pains on over 200 million people with the promulgation of a policy without human face, even though it is meant to address some social ills in the country. But the Emperor went about it adopting an anti-people strategy. Now, the people are wailing in the wilderness of sufferings and confusion biting their fingers in regret.
Dear President, suffice to say here that Nigerians are angry with you and your policy coming just three months to your exit as the president of the country. Why must you be the one to implement this policy in the first place? If you must implement this policy, why do you think governors and National Assembly were unimportant in prior engagements and discussions about the veracity of this policy?
Why do you think you and Godwin Emefiele own this country as your private empire? Have you forgotten that you came to power through elections as the president of Nigeria?
Your broadcast to the nation Thursday morning shows that you have no respect for the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. The Supreme Court of the land made a pronouncement that N200, N500 and N1,000 should remain as legal tender, pending when the matter in the highest court of the land would be determined. But, surprisingly, you did not only desecrate the sanctity of the apex court by your broadcast, but also magnified the emperor in you by outlawing the legal status of N500 and N1,000.
Mr. President, your action has sent signal to the whole world that your intention might be sinister. It might be an attempt to truncate the February 25, 2023 presidential and National Assembly elections. In defiance to the crying of the INEC chairman that cash may scuttle the election, you still went ahead to rubber stamp Godwin Emefiele’s madness.
The claim that currency swapping policy will reduce inflation is nothing but mere balderdash. Inflation rate is often controlled by productive activities. Not with a policy that will strangulate the Small and Medium Scale Enterprises which is the strength of the national economy.
Mr. President, whatever might have informed this policy smacks treachery. My piece of advice therefore is, eat the humble pie by throwing in the towel. This policy is anti people. It is inimical to the national growth and development.
The social and economic history of Nigeria shows that our economy is cash and carry. It’s good if we want to migrate to modern and technologically driven mechanism, but our rural unbanked population which is in the region of 55 to 60% must be considered.
Why will Mr President and Godwin Emefiele sit in their offices, using gun to force policy down the throats of Nigerians? Emefiele, in all of this, has been so embarrassing. No wonder the governor of central bank wanted to transmute as the president of Nigeria not too long ago. What an insult to the collective intelligence of over 200 million Nigerians!
Here is a man who was running helter-skelter recently, rushing to the court to seek protection from his arrest by DSS now he’s desecrating the highest court of the land by refusing to obey the pronouncement of the Supreme Court.
This is highly embarrassing to Nigerians. His grandstanding and unguarded choice of words depict that the CBN belongs to him and his family. What we can deduce in all of this is that our society is usually governed by people who are not well informed about democracy.
It is sad that our institutions are in the hands of mediocre. That explains why we as a country always wobble and fumble in terms of growth and development.
.Otunba Sola Olatunji, Chairman of Ikale Heritage Development Association, writes from Lagos