Abba Hamisu Sani
Africa-Press – Nigeria. Nigerians are expressing anger and dissatisfaction over the present economic hardship coupled with Currency shortage in addition to the lingering fuel scarcity.
As the country will soon conduct the Presidential and National Assembly elections that comprises the Senate and house of representatives.
States like Oyo ,Edo, Lagos and Ogun are at forefront demonstrating against the recent currency shortage due to Central Bank naira redesigned policy and persistence on its stand created so much havoc on the entire citizens.
Much queueing in filling stations at the Independent National Electoral Commission’s offices to collect Voters cards are more aggravating situations.
Frustration,Tears; These words succinctly describe the mood of Nigerians who have been trying to get cash from banks as well as petrol across Nigeria.
In October 2022, Godwin Emefiele, governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), announced the plan to redesign the N200, N500, and N1,000 notes, and directed Nigerians to deposit their old notes before January 31, 2023 when they would cease to be legal tender.
Although the deadline was extended to February 10 and recently the case is in the supreme court which will determine the issue of the deadline , many Nigerians have found it difficult to obtain the new naira notes.
Before the cash shortage, Nigerians have been dealing with months-long petrol scarcity with the product now being sold for as high as N1,000 (more than two dollar) per liter in some states.
Faced with cash and petrol scarcity, Nigerians have taken to the streets in some states to protest their experiences at queues in banks and petrol stations.
The States that experienced the protest and demonstrations include ;
Oyo; residents of Ibadan, the capital of Oyo state, mounted roadblocks and set up bonfires to protest the tarrying petrol and naira note scarcity.
The protests disrupted vehicular movement resulting in traffic congestion in the capital city.
The unrest ended with Access Bank and Wema Bank branches located in the Dugbe and Queen Cinema areas of the town being attacked.
DELTA; youths, students, traders, and commuters, took to the streets to protest the difficulty in buying petrol and withdrawing cash.
The demonstration lasted for days as the protesters barricaded sections of the Warri/Sapele road and other major roads in the Warri metropolis, causing gridlock in the area.
EKITI; Students of Ekiti State University protested the petrol scarcity, which they said has resulted in the hike of transport fare.
They barricaded the Iworoko road around the school campus and also blocked the school gate.
ENUGU; Motorists and tricycle operators in Enugu protested petrol scarcity in the parts of the state.
The enraged protesters reportedly manhandled pump attendants of filling stations and asked them to sell the product at government approved prices.
EDO; Residents of Edo state blocked roads and took to the streets to protest the shortage of naira notes and petrol scarcity.
Things,however, took a different turn at an Automatic Teller Machine point resulting in a clash between students of the University of Benin and soldiers in the state.
LAGOS; Aside from heated exchanges and bitter complaints in banks across Lagos, civil society organizations (CSOs), protested over the unavailability of cash at Automated Teller Machine points
Chanting“all we are saying, give us new notes”, the members of the groups stormed the headquarters of banks in parts of Lagos.
Raymond Edoh is the United Nations Habitat Ambassador to Nigeria, and an International Activist. He urged Nigerians particularly youths to remain calm and watch patiently as things would unfold for good.
The Activist emphasized that burning down facilities and infrastructures owned privately or publicly is not the best option in a crucial moment when a country is at a junction of power transition.
Raymond said “Corruption is what makes the situation worse as banks hardly pay people with new notes because it’s never available but you will see it with those women selling it at parties and event halls , those currencies are not available at the banks but always available at every event hall.With the ongoing swapping of the old Naira notes with the new notes, the rush to beat the CBN deadlines has exposed Nigerians to untold hardships”Raymond stated.
In as much as we calm Nigerians down, we urge those at the helm of affairs to look into the suffering of Nigerians and then fashion out a possible way to soften these policies in order to ensure a leveled playing ground for everyone in the country.
Buhari’s Government should as matter of urgency take the necessary steps to make better changes if not it will splinter the transition process to another regime as Nigerians are ready to fight the situation” he said.
Raymond added that No sitting president would wish for the collapse of his nation or its economy. The policies might not be favorable but he said he is rest assured it would be in the interest of the nation.“Elections must be held and the youths must support the federal government to make it hold by all means”. He stated.
Reacting to fuel scarcity, “We will stop at nothing until the right thing is done. The scarcity of fuel is evil. Until the right people are in power, we might be rolling from one problem to the other” The activist Said.
Edoh emphasized that Elections are close and so, Citizens must make sure the right people are voted.
“I want to also use this medium to charge parents to speak to young ones to stay calm and maintain law and order because this is the only country we can call our own” He stated. “Also I want to assure the government and especially the Independent National Electoral Commission that we will continue to preach for peace in order to maintain a credible 2023 election” He said. “To the electorate, we have never been this powerful and have a high knowledge of the electoral process since the return of democracy and we must utilize this power and opportunities in our hands to vote against all the evil politicians who will not do our nation good”he added.
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