Hardship: Osun CSOs decry govt financial policy, threaten massive protest

BLESSING AKOROWOSI, Osogbo

Osun State Coalition of Civil Societies has lamented the scarcity of fuel and new naira notes in the country which has affected the well being of citizens.

This is as the CSOs threatened to  embark on protest anytime soon if the cash and fuel scarcity persists stating that the financial policy of the Federal Government is doing more harm than good to the people presently.

Addressing newsmen during a press conference on Monday at the NUJ Correspondents’ Chapel, Osogbo, Osun State capital, the Chairman of the Coalition, Comrade Waheed Lawal called on President Muhammadu Buhari to be more sensitive to the plight of the people.

Lawal urged the Central Bank of Nigeria to make enough amount of the new naira notes available to the banks for onward disbursement to the general public.

He said, “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.

“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.

“We call on security operatives and anti-graft agencies to go after bank managers and other officials who have 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,” he stated.

For a better society

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