Following the face of the ongoing hardship and lingering fuel scarcity and non-availability of the redesigned Naira notes, Osun Civil Societies Coalition Peoples Advocates has threatened to embark on street protest if the hardship continue.
The Coalition condemned pains being experienced by the common Nigerians in getting cash for their livelihood, stated that many businesses nearly collapsed.
The CSO lead by Comrade Waheed Lawal sounded the warning in press conference held in Osogbo on Monday, stated that they will hit the street anytime soon.
Comrade Waheed Lawa said, There is no gainsaying the fact that Nigerians are going through hell in getting fuel and cash for personal use and business purposes.
According to him, “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.
“While we suspend our protest for today, we will hit the street anytime soon if the cash and fuel scarcity persist.
“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.
Meanwhile the Publicity Secretary, The Peoples Advocates, Comrade Emmanuel Olowu posited that there are saboteurs among the top echelon of the banking industries, but the CBN has not also released enough amount of the redesigned denominations to banks through which they can be disbursed to the generality of people.
Olowu further said that the Central Bank of Nigeria led by Mr Godwin Emefiele has clearly been playing hide-and-seek game on the circulation of the new naira notes.
According to him, “We need not to tell you the agony of Nigerians who queue for more than six hours hours to get cash from ATM. Some people are even unlucky as they will not be able to get cash at the end of the day after spending several hours on the queue
“Considering the pains being experienced by the common men in getting cash for their livelihood, it would not be out of place to declare that the President Muhammadu Buhari-led Federal Government is inconsiderate and insensitive to the plight of the citizens.
“It is pathetic that we are experiencing a double jeopardy – a situation where there is no cash, and there is no fuel. The scarcity of fuel has been lingering for months without any end in sight. It is unfortunate that President Muhammadu Buhari who directly supervises the Ministry of Petroleum Resources has been paying lip service to ensuring that fuel is available at affordable rate for Nigerians.
