Naira Redesign: Activist Slams FG, Says APC Govt Anti-masses

  

A civil right activist, Comrade Naheem Olaore, has chided the All Progressives Congress-led Federal Government on the ‘flop’ in the introduction of new naira notes which brought about scarcity of cash in the country. 

Olaore said the FG and Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) lacked proper planning and execution which he said was responsible for the policy summersault. 

The activist spoke in a statement released for newsmen at the weekend in Osogbo, Osun state.

According to the former Chairman of Joint Campus Committee (JCC) of National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS), the federal government has further impoverished millions of Nigerians and pushed others far below the poverty line due to the withdrawal of cash from circulation. 

“As good as the cashless policy would have been, lack of proper implementation process and insensitivity to the plight of the masses made it a satanic policy. The APC government is pure anti-masses,” said Olaore.  

He stated that thousands of petty traders, small scale business owners and small and medium scale enterprises have closed down their businesses due to the absence of cash.

Comrade Olaore said the reintroduction of the old N1000 and N500 denominations which had been declared illegal into the circulation made a mess of the naira redesign policy. 

He said: “The federal government needs to urgently address the havoc caused by the not-well-planned naira redesign policy which has crippled small scale businesses and subjected downtrodden to more hardship.

“The redesign of the country’s currency, due to poor implementation, is of no value since it has taken away means of livelihood of common countrymen and women.

“Already, larger percentage of petty traders, small businesses owners and others have lost their businesses due to low supply of the newly printed naira notes, and the worst of it all is the poor network/service for electronic payment.

“Unemployment has increased and millions of people have been pushed far below the poverty line. Both unemployment and poverty can only birth underdevelopment and insecurity for the country.

“It is clear that President Muhammadu Buhari and the APC led federal government are insensitive to the plight of the masses.”

Olaore demanded that the federal government release grant and soft loans to below average Nigerians to cushion the effect of the poor implementation of naira redesign.

“Failure of government to help the masses through grants and loans may result to increase in depression, psychological disorder and suicide rate.