Clement Idoko
The National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) and the National Association of Ogun State Students (NAOSS) have berated President Muhammadu Buhari for lifting the ban on only the old N200 note only, saying this might aggravate the crisis.
The students noted Buhari should have listened to the voices of Nigerians by sacking the governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Godwin Emefiele for insisting on the new naira policy which according to them had brought untold hardship to the people.
The students stated this in a statement, jointly signed by the Ogun state chairman of NANS, Comrade Kehinde Damilola Simeon and the National President of NAOSS, Comrade Oluwagbemileke Ogunrombi in Abuja on Thursday.
They further observed that the N200 notes were not many in circulation as N500 and N1000 because many ATMs do not dispense them.
President Buhari had in a nationwide broadcast on Thursday announced that the old N500 and N1,000 notes remain illegal while only the old N200 note is legal tender.
The student bodies in a reaction said the President’s decision might further aggravate the tension in the country and push Nigerians into more violent protests.
“It is obvious that President Muhammadu Buhari has failed to take into consideration, the plight of Nigerians in taking his decision. This new development may snowball into total unrest in the country if proactive action is not taken.
“The fact remains that N200 notes are not many in circulation as N500 and N1000. This is because many ATMs do not dispense N200 notes.
“It is now clear that the President and the CBN governor are now working together against the emergence of the All Progressives Congress (APC) Presidential candidate, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu as the president of the country.
“Because how else can you explain President Buhari’s refusal to sack the CBN governor who has to foist an anti-people policy on Nigerians, despite the nationwide cry that Emefiele should be removed?
“This is the same CBN governor that bought the Presidential nomination form of the APC even as the governor of the apex bank. Both Emefiele and Buhari are working against Nigerians.
“President Buhari and Emefiele have inflicted untold hardship and pain on innocent Nigerians with the unpopular naira redesign policy and Nigerians have shown their opposition to the policy, but Buhari and Emefiele have remained adamant.
“The question we want to ask President Buhari is that, is Emefiele bigger than the entire people of Nigeria that the policy cannot be reversed?
“Is Buhari not in charge of the country that he has found it difficult to yield to the demands of Nigerians and sack Emefiele?”
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