While Men Plays God!!!
I watched a presidential candidate's visit to one of the states in the East during their recent campaigns and heard
" If you all vote me now, I will hand Nigeria over to you in the next four years".
As usual, the crowd erupted in praise of him but it hit me really hard, as in, I don't understand.
When did Nigeria become a personal property to be used as charity?
Has over 200m people become so debased that they don't have a say in the affairs of their nation? And how did we get to this position where our leaders has suddenly become our God?
The people suffers and our leaders stands unaffected by the cries and woes of the masses.
The naira swap saga continues and
Controversies continues to trail the decision of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) under the leadership of Godwin Emefiele to redesign the nation’s banknotes from October last year when he announced it.
Lots of questions around the propriety of the redesign before serious conversations had been had about currency reform continues to avail.
Exponents are of the opinion that With the N200 and N500 notes worth less than US$1, it made more sense to put them out as coins.
They posits that given how these currencies move around the economy, they were likelier, as coins, to bear the ensuing wear and tear better than as notes.
However, the question of the populace’s supposed unwillingness to hold coins raised a further reform challenge though has not been discussed openly.
Again,by lending nearly US$50 billion to the Federal Government without holding collateral of any sort, the Central Bank was not only caught out in an illegality, but had drawn a bold line under the question of how fit for purpose it still is.
However, they noted that reconciling the Bank’s price stability mandate with conduct that so clearly helped push domestic prices up, was but one of several outstanding matters.
Secondly, the economics of a banknote swap ahead of a general election was always dodgy.
According to them, by constricting demand, the swap was always going to hurt domestic output growth during and in the months preceding it coupled with the challenges faced by the man on the street in completing online transactions.
Even more questionable, they said was the economics of deploying currency in circulation as an anti-inflation tool.
With a little over a fortnight and unhelpful extension to the deadline for swapping old banknotes with the new ones, the economy struggles, the masses groans yet the new banknotes remains a collector’s item, unaccessible to the grassroot even as banks’ automated teller machines (ATMs) continue to dispense the old notes and the publics continues to reject them.
The CBN’s predictions has been unhelpful as it's decision only reversed itself on the amount of cash that banks’ customers may now withdraw across the counter.
Having instructed banks to provide the new notes through ATMs from 9 January and later extended to February 10, it still takes the original equipment manufacturers weeks to reconfigure the ATMs to dispense the said new notes.
That the Central Bank is not aware of this technical hurdle is still a great surprise to both elites and the publics.
That it keeps issuing these instructions to banks to make the new notes available, when it knows it is unable to meet the banks’ needs, borders on the irresponsibility as a regulator which has made many belief that the policy was fated to be so.
And more baffling is the fact that these leaders refuse to take leads of how it is done in civilized countries.
It was noted that the Nigerian Security Printing and Minting Plc. was already struggling with the task of replacing defaced and mutilated currency hence there was no way it was going to be able to meet up with the production of N3 trillion worth of banknotes in a year.
Even as they struggle to balance the chaos constituted by this untimely and unhealthy decision, the facts still remains that the grassroot bears the pains and frustration resulting from the policy.
For instance, a look at various markets in the states has seen many shops and businesses shut due to their inability to coordinate the bank- transfer- delay received saga.
Also worrisome is the number of lives that has been lost. From one state to another, there has been reports of deaths due to the inability to secure cash to do the needful.
An Ibadan-based radio presenter popularly known as Baba Bintin slumped and died on his way to work in the early hours of Saturday.
Report has it that the presenter died on his way to the Fresh FM station where he had a programme at Ayefele Music house, Challenge, Ibadan, Oyo State capital.
It was said that he was trekking from where he lived to his office as a result of his inability to get cash for transportation to the studio when he slumped and died.
That is just but a few of the ones we know.
Even when some governors has approached the Supreme Court o challenge the apex bank’s action and the Apex court has given a directive that the old notes be used alongside the new currency till Dec. 31, 2003, our "gods" still hasn't seen the need to address the people on the way forward and alleviate their sufferings.
They are yet to comply with the order, leaving the economy in comatose with foreign investors threatening to flee the country.
Another sets of "gods" are the POS' vendors that sells the currency at outrageous rates ranging from #2,000 to #10, 000, #4,000 to #20,000 with the fact that the monies are not even available when you need them and when you do, it's almost like you have gotten nothing because it has lost its value.
The masses will welcome any policy that aims at positive change but not at the expense of it's peace and accessibility.
What is the essence of the rule of law in this country if it's not adhered to?.
Why do leaderships in viable positions in the country regards itself as God and takes decision based on how it favours them and close allies alone?
I fail to under at this junction why our economic activities are fully grounded or why leaders that are supposed to be path finders are now the main obstacles to our growth.
What hope is there for the ordinary man? What hope is there for a better future? And again what hope is there for real change when our elitist leaders continue to play God at the mercy of over 200 million muted bystanders.
Idemudia Franca
Journalist/ Media Expert.
Clevenard.com.
- Category:
- Economy
- 12 Mar, 2023
- 1038 views
I also pity POS vendors and Keke drivers collecting outrageous sum, judgement awaits them if they don't desist.
The late junta General Sani Abacha was seen as god, was a face of fear,but God took him away and heaven didn't fall.
The word of God has spoken and stands as a judgement to these wicked politicians seen as god.
These politicians like Hope Uzodimma, Wike, Buhari, Tinubu, Mahmood Yakubu, Emefiele Godwin, Kashim Shetimma,etc, will go down to the ethereal.
Exodus 14:13, Exodus 14:10-15. The almighty God is the father of Jesus Christ; and Jesus Christ is the head of principalities &powers.