AMILOADED MEDIA HUB NEWS UPDATE
A group, the Osun Civil Societies Coalition and Peoples Advocates, has condemned the scarcity of naira notes and fuel in the country, saying President Muhammadu Buhari’s government is “inconsiderate and insensitive” to the plight of Nigerians, AMILOADED reports.
The group said this at a press conference jointly addressed by its Chairman and Publicity Secretary, Comrade Waheed Lawal Comrade Emmanuel Olowu respectively, in Osogbo, Osun State on Monday.
The Osun Civil Societies Coalition and Peoples Advocates while calling on President Buhari to be “more sensitive” to the plight of the citizens, said Nigeria is “fallen apart” under the watch of his administration.
It stated that the return of fuel scarcity in the country was a pointer to the success or otherwise of Buhari’s administration.
Calling for an end to the fuel and naira notes scarcity, the group said the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has been playing “hide-and-seek game” on the circulation of the new naira notes.
The group said, “While we are not questioning the sincerity of the Federal Government on the financial policy, we are constrained to give volume to the murmuring, groaning and cries of Nigerians who have been badly hit by the economic dragon.
“Considering the pains being experienced by the common men in getting cash for their livelihood, it would not be out of place to declare that the President Muhammadu Buhari-led Federal Government is inconsiderate and insensitive to the plight of the citizens.
“The Central Bank of Nigeria led by Mr Godwin Emefiele has clearly been playing hide-and-seek game on the circulation of the new naira notes. We acknowledged the fact that there are saboteurs among the top echelon of the banking industries, but the CBN has not also released enough amount of the redesigned denominations to banks through which they can be disbursed to the generality of people. This is responsible for the ridiculous amount of cash being paid to the people over the counter.
“The withdrawal of the old naira notes and refusal of the CBN to release enough of the redesigned denominations amount to a deliberate attempt to punish Nigerians unjustly. This is highly condemnable.
“Economically, the scarcity of cash has crippled many businesses and further push millions of Nigerians far below the poverty line. Petty traders do no longer make sales because of cash transaction which their trading depends upon. We make bold to say that this financial policy of the Federal Government is doing more harm than good presently. There should have been another way round to maintain a balance between cash control and the wellbeing of the people.
“It is pathetic that we are experiencing a double jeopardy – a situation where there is no cash, and there is no fuel. The scarcity of fuel has been lingering for months without any end in sight.
“It is unfortunate that President Muhammadu Buhari who directly supervises the Ministry of Petroleum Resources has been paying lip service to ensuring that fuel is available at affordable rate for Nigerians. It equally speaks volume of a President that has been supervising everything that has to do with petroleum resources to ask for seven days to address the fuel scarcity.
“The two key issues have taken away the dignity of majority of Nigerians. We have seen videos where men and women stripped themselves naked in protest against their inability to get cash. Car owners have for long been sleeping at filling stations for fuel. Many people have been injured as a result of fights at filling stations and ATM centres.
“In Osun today, we have filling stations selling fuel between N350 and N400 per litre. The masses remain the end receiver of this economic mismanagement. The reverberating effect falls on the common people who goes to market to buy foodstuffs, board public transport, pay bills, etc.
“The scarcity of fuel and cash is a calamity that needed to be addressed urgently. Nigerians have been pushed to the wall, and this ongoing provocation, if care is not taken, might trigger violent protest nationwide in which #EndSARs might be a child play.
“It is the awareness of this fact, coupled with intelligent report that made us to suspend the mass protest that was supposed to be held today. We do not want to create platform for some elements whose only language they understand is violence. The outcome of last week protest in Ibadan and Benin is an indication that Nigeria is sitting on a keg of gunpower. The hardship is becoming unbearable to the generality of the people.”
The Osun Civil Societies Coalition and Peoples Advocate urged the CBN to make enough amount of the new naira notes available to the banks for onward disbursement to Nigerians, calling on security operatives and anti-graft agencies to go after bank managers and other officials who have allegedly been hoarding the new naira notes and sabotaging other processes of getting the new denominations widely circulated.
“We call on President Muhammadu Buhari to be more sensitive to the plight of the people. May we alert him that Nigeria is fallen apart under the watch of his administration. The return of fuel scarcity is nothing but a pointer to the success or otherwise of his administrations. We demand an end to the fuel scarcity now! We need the president to be compassionate in addressing the fuel scarcity.
“While we suspend our protest for today, we will hit the street anytime soon if the cash and fuel scarcity persists.
“May we use this opportunity to call on security agencies in Osun State to arrest the growing ugly trend of thuggery, brigandage, cultism, political violence, kidnapping and insecurity generally. These forms of criminalities have been threatening the peace and safety of the people of the state,” the group added.
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