- When the hunter became the hunted… in Nigeria
By Nelson Fadoju
It is what is in the stomach of a drunkard that makes him behave irrationally- “Ohun to wa ninu eni l’emu maa npa’ni ba”.
The action of Emefiele and Mr. President was well pre-planned for a hidden purpose only known to them. They made us believe that they are hunting certain people during elections.
At the end, the People they are hunting escaped and “Okete wa bo’ru mo won lowo“.The hunter nearly became the hunted. For them to reverse the not-too well-planned Policy became too difficult for them until the Supreme Court, Our Saviour ordered them.
Perfection only belongs to the Almighty.
Emefiele might have jumped at this shoddy deal as a pay-back for losing out to contest the Presidential Election among others.The result which was not the initial purpose, was now led to punishing the innocent Nigerians.
If the President was not fully involved, the Governor of Central Bank cannot single-handedly carry our the slavery assignment despite the Power given him by law. This is a lesson for our Politicians that they should fear the Lord.
The Bank Officials wanted to obey their over-all boss-Emefiele to avoid any hammer even though, they themselves are not totally happy at the wrong implementation of the Cashless Policy. They too saw it as a way to make brisk business through hoarding and use of POS terminals which many of them own. Nigerians started buying their own money and we became a laughing stock in the eyes of the World.
Many money owners suffered and died for their hard- earned money. It was like a second Civil War carried out by the Goverment along with high fuel scarcity and hunger in Nigeria. It was a resemblance of the infamous King Pharaoh, Hitler and Idi-Amin days. The end did not justify it at all. A big lesson for our politicians to think of tomorrow and know that you cannot punish the masses unjustifiably and go scot-free unless you repent and apologise to Nigerians for the Lord to forgive.
Back and front and head or tail, now they know that,”Ohun to wa leyin ofa, o ju oje lo” i.e it is not easy and not a tea party issue.
Cleverly, they were passing blames on the ” innocent air” and commercial banks thinking that the public are fools. Having lost out in the wrong manner in which the cashless policy was carried out at election times, they stylistically bowed to people’s pressure.
Power corrupts absolutely…The people after the Lord’s absolute Power, have their own unending Power. Power belongs to Him and the people.
Reluctantly, they backed out at long last and the Judiciary, once again became a hero through Government carelessness, un-preparedness of a good policy when the Governors cried out early enough.
In all that we do in life,we must always seek for the general welfare of the people on whose back we rode to power and allow truth, fairness, justice and peace to reign without allowing the citizens to die innocently.
Hosea 10:12
Sow to yourselves in righteousness, reap in mercy; break up your fallow ground: for it is time to seek the LORD, till he come and rain righteousness upon you.
Amos 5:7
Ye who turn judgment to wormwood, and leave off righteousness in the earth.
Amos 5:24
But let judgment run down as waters, and righteousness as a mighty stream.
Hebrews 8:12
For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more.
1 John 5:17
All unrighteousness is sin: and there is a sin not unto death.
From Online/INEC Records,we find these : “The newly designed denominations of 200 (43 U.S. cents), 500 ($1.08) and 1,000 naira ($2.17) being introduced together with limits on heavy withdrawals would drive financial inclusion in Africa’s biggest economy and also make it cashless, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) said in November when they were introduced.
As of October 2022, currency in circulation had risen to N3. 23 trillion; out of which only N500 billion was within the banking system and N2. 7 trillion held permanently in people’s homes.14 Feb 2023”.
The annual budget of INEC is #40 billion naira but,INEC asked for #305 billion for the elections.
The Federal Govt released part of INEC Money in January,2023 in new Currencies.One may therefore ask the following questions :
(a)When new #200,#500 and #1000 were printed and not released to the people,what happens to old #10, #20, #50 and #100 and why were they not released to bank customers ?
(b) When #200 new currencies were to be released, why were people made to suffer ?
(c) When the Supreme Court gave its judgement in March 2023 that all old currencies should continue to be legal tender till December 31, 2023, why was the Federal Government and INEC foot dragging to announce to the Media but disobeyed the Supreme Court until March 12,2023, thereby lying against commercial banks and punishing the masses?
The Federal Government and its powerful CBN under Governor Emefiele must repent of their sins to avoid a hunter becoming hunted.
Usually, it is the inner eyes of a snake that he uses to see things clearly. Government should always think deeply on its policies before rushing out to implement them by using Administrative and Management mirrors/eyes in future.
May the Lord use our leaders and the generality of Nigerians their subjects rightly. Amen.
- Ven. Amb. Nelson Fadoju, aka Ayekooto, is a Media Consultant/CEO, Public Analyst,Law/Arbitrator, Mediator and Theologian @ Jubilee Projects and Justice for Peace, Nigeria (JP-JP, NIGERIA).
