Who would have thought that tactless leadership in Nigeria would be so bad that a liter of petrol would sell for N500 in a fuel station and people even can’t get to buy after queuing up for hours?
President Mohammadu Buhari has completely lost control of the country. He was never fully in charge of Nigeria even from the day he took power. NNPC LTD and the balkanized DPR are just there to pump crude oil produced by the International Oil Companies (IOCs) without accounting for which fraction of the exports go into government coffers and what portion is diverted into their private pockets.
Buhari’s administration will terminate on May 29, 2023, leaving the country in ruins with nothing, no sector seems to be working. He has, by his failed leadership in civilian garb, proven that he overthrew Shehu Shagari’s democratically elected administration on 31st December 1984 with no justification.
The question has become even more pertinent, as to why Buhari’s junta overthrew Shehu Shagari which was setting the nation on the path of sustainable industrialization with steel development at the heart of the intended industrial revolution.
Since 31st December 1984 Nigeria has been critically ill and has not recovered from the overthrow of Shehu Shagari.
The Nigerian Naira was the equivalent of the British Pound Sterling at the time Buhari and his military junta overthrew Shehu Shagari.
Now Buhari comes with a malicious change of currency among his many failures. Why currency change is an acceptable monetary policy, the malicious conception and implementation by the Buhari administration have not been done with a human face.
The urgency attached to the new notes is unnecessary. It should have taken twelve months and more to phase out the old notes as legal tender. No responsible government will wake up one morning through its CBN Governor, Godwin Emefiele to announce the change of old notes within a few days, knowing well that scarcity of new notes will inflict hardships on the common man.
The moneybags/super-rich politicians are not affected one bit. The intention to change old notes within a few days is evil. Those they claim stored the money in private vaults will not be affected. The new notes have given the opportunity to bank directors, managers, and bankers to cheat on the common man.
A cash withdrawal of N50,000 will cause you N15,000 or N20,000 in the black market so the intention for the change of old notes is aimed at impoverishing the common man more. The old notes phasing out should have spread down to January or February 2024. One can see how young men are engaging in physical combats in banking halls as shown in viral videos.
What country are we in? I am not seeing any gain in a change of old notes in a hurry. How did past changes of currency notes by Buhari’s military administration help Nigeria to improve in economy? It rather brought hardship with hoarding of the new notes which impacted skyrocketed the price of every other commodity or service in the market.
I still recollect how common Nigerians were to queue up and then buy just food items, fuel, and beverages. It was styled under Buhari’s military regime as ‘essential commodities’. Buhari brought pains and hardship then. Now he has repeated the same thing with three months to vacate power as elected civilian leader.
Buhari does not think for the common man. The timing and haste to change the old notes are cruel, the depravity of the highest order to the common man. I am surprised Godwin Emefiele and his master, Buhari are enjoying the sufferings and hardships the common Nigerians are facing right now.
Government is a continuing process. The hoarding of new notes and artificial scarcity of fuel is caused by Buhari, his advisers, and appointees. The national assembly members that ought to call Buhari to order have refused, and have become a part of the conspiracy. Nigeria is bleeding. The politicians have rendered the country unbearable for the common man in this Buhari dispensation.
And as said by Ebenezer Okorodudu, ‘But the common man is not reacting. Only grumbling. How do they survive?’ As I have said and will still reiterate, no one forced Buhari to seek to be elected and re-elected to rule Nigeria after many failed bids. Why inflict economic hardships on Nigerians? Before the coming of Buhari in this political dispensation, staple food prices were affordable to the common man.
Today, the common man doesn’t have money to buy the necessary food and money to use to buy ordinary paracetamol/panadol. How many okro, pepper, tomatoes, fish, meat, palm oil, groundnut oil, garri, starch, plantain, yam, tapioca, beans, vegetables, egusi, and food ingredients do sellers have bank accounts to transfer money to?
What a wicked president is Buhari! Why can’t Emefiele advise him on the change of old notes to ease it to January or February 2024? Emefiele and Buhari will pay for their sins against the common man.
The super-rich politicians and their fronts have the means to get whatever amount of new notes from the banks and the Central Bank of Nigeria. Who are Buhari and Emefiele targeting with their supposed war against corruption?
The common man is suffering untold hardships over the scarcity of fuel and hoarding of new Naira notes. The new notes in circulation were abused by the CBN governor and commercial banks which have no capacity to circulate or they may have been deliberately abused by them for selfish interests.
The timing is wrong and indicates that Buhari wants to further destroy the country deliberately to cause more hardships for the common man. The governors’ request to extend the date of the change of old notes is in order.
The super-rich politicians and their fronts are connected to all the banks, including the CBN to take away as much as they can to their usual hidden overhead water tanks, septic tanks, abandoned vehicles, etc. They know themselves.
Not even the advanced Western World operates 100% cashless in this 21st century. At the moment, the UK is planning to remodel currency to change the portrait bearing the former Queen to the incumbent King Charles III of England. If the UK is 100% a cashless society they wouldn’t be thinking of budgeting much money to fund the printing of new notes.
Every person is given equality of opportunity in the West, hence they still have one Pound/Dollar store, and public buses, trains, and tubes, also known as underground trains for easy movement.
The solution to Nigeria’s problem is not cashless. Here in Nigeria, we have ignorant and selfish leaders/elites and daft followers. It is not about whether it is good or not good for or against cashless.
We Mobilize Others To Fight For Individual Causes As If Those Were Our CausesÂ