Yoruba traditional rulers under the aegis of the Yoruba Obas Forum rising from a meeting of its executives held in Ibadan, Oyo State on Friday 3rd February, 2023 have condemned the continuous scarcity of Premium Motor Spirit (Petrol) due to the inability of the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) to check the situation for the past months and nip it in the bud.
The statement was released on their behalf by the administrator of the Forum, Oba (Dr) Michael Odunayo Ajayi, the Elerinmo of Erinmo and jointly signed by the Molokun of Atijere President of the Forum, Oba Samuel O. Adeoye, the General Secretary of the Forum and Olukotun of Ikotun-Ile, Oba. Dr. Abdulrasaq Adebayo Abioye, the Forum PRO and Alayandelu of Odo-Ayandelu, Oba (Bldr) Asunmo Ganiyu Aderibigbe, the Forum’s Financial Secretary and Olasole of Lasole, Oba Dairo Jacob Olufayo, the Olujumu of Ijumu Kingdom, Oba Williams Olusegun Ayeni, the Ologijo of Ogijo, Oba Kazeem Gbadamosi, the Onilekki of Lekki, Oba Liasim Olumuyiwa Ogunbekun and the Alagbado of Agbado, Oba Adedayo Shyllon Sogbulu.
In the statement which was made available to journalists on Saturday, the traditional rulers also decried the current difficulties encountered by their people in getting the new naira notes as well as non availability of the currency while recommending immediate resolution to the hardship by the government.
According to these Yoruba Obas who cut across all South West states and some North Central states during their meeting in Ibadan, Oyo State on Friday “we are using this medium to call on the government to urgently find immediate and lasting solution to the current hardship facing the entire people of Nigeria through the scarcity of petroleum products and non availability of new naira notes.
” The current situation has forced traders to increased the price of their products while it has also affected commercial transportation which is bouncing back on the masses.
“Even the current situation has forced most traders to lock their shops die to their inability to trade and in a bid to avoid collecting the old notes, which were still largely in circulation”.
The statement further affirmed that the cash crunch has affected lots of Nigerians in the rural areas whose major means of getting cash is through POS operators most of whom have now been squeezed out of business leading to excruciating hardship for the vast majority of our people.
Understanding that a vast majority of Nigerians operate in the informal sector during petty trade and without the level of literacy to handle non cash transactions, this cash crunch has literarily shut their operations down with ripple effects on millions.
They called on Federal government to be magnanimous and respond to the cries of the people by immediately reversing this policy by allowing the use of both new and old naira notes concurrently for a long while.
Similarly, the Yoruba Obas expressed their full support to shift power to the South in 2023 for fairness and equity after 8 years of Northern presidency.
The Yoruba Obas who re-echoed the position of other prominent Nigerians that the power should be rotated between the North and the South said it is for the betterment of Nigeria in all ramifications as well as peaceful co existence within the diverse nation called Nigeria.
They also prayed for a smooth and peaceful election urging the youths and other Nigerian people not to engage in acts of violence or contravene any laws of the country as election is not a do or die affair.
The Yoruba Obas Forum which is a registered forum of hundreds of Obas in Lagos, Ogun, Osun, Oyo, Kwara, Ekiti, Ondo and Kogi states was set up to promote and protect the interest of the Yoruba traditional institution as well as the interest of all Yorubas while pushing for the long over due recognition of monarchs in the Nigerian constitution and giving them roles as this will go a long way to ease the stress on governments, bring developments closer to the people at grassroots level and bridge failure gaps.
