Emefiele’s Mess, Buhari’s Gaffe, By Tunde Abatan
There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens: a time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to uproot, a time to kill and a time to heal, a time to tear down and a time to build, a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance, a time to …Ecclesiastics 3:1-11
What we have is a repetition of history as those who are in position, fail to learn from the lessons of history .
It is ironic that Godwin Emefiele,the Governor of our now belittled Central Bank of Nigeria,CBN is fighting his third battle within a year.
Less than six months ago,he did battle with established tradition by expressing his desire to contest for Presidential election even when he is not known to be a registered member of any party.
By that action alone without a whimper of eyebrow from the President,his action is deemed a compromise of the system.
As such subsequent actions and misdeeds like the on going naira redesign and imbroglio is justified since his employer’s refused to acknowledge the dangers of his partisanship.
This in essence also rob him of any claim to professional intergrity as he has become an umpire in a game he wanted to be part of.
It also shows that afterall there cannot be smoke without fire.
Emefieles continuance at the apex bank is thus a strange development which only those backing him and the President could explain and justify.
When the dust settled on his controversial aspiration and he went back to his job, he got himself once again in the thick of an alleged terrorism funding by allegedly diverting princely sum from the nations earning from withholding bank charges etc to the evil act which had sent thousands to their early grave.
Hardly had he returned from his ‘exiled annual medical tourism’ that his pet project of redesigning of Naira, even when such had not added value to the nations battered currency, took a new dimension.
He had earlier in September 2022 with Presidential approval embarked on the project to change the currency through colour adjustment of three denominations of 1000,500,200 naira.
The objective according to him and his benefactor,President Muhammadu Buhari, is to prevent politicians from using I’ll gotten money stashed away inside bullion vans to influence voters.
Would he and those who supported him have thought of such policy had he has his way in becoming a presidential candidate?
Today,one week after the expiration of the deadline for the currencies to cease as legal tenders,both Emefiele,his boss and indeed political stakeholders and masses cannot rest.
They have murdered sleep of such.
It is definitely not a time to laugh either for him and all those institutions who supported him.
For that, Ado Dokuwa,majority leader of the All People’s Congress,APC controlled house of representatives is bold enough to tell a bemused nation Monday on Channels Politics Today that,the president was I’ll advised.
Though not a banker,Doguwa from Kano state, believes that had Buhari been knowledgeable enough about economy and finances maybe he would not have fallen into being misled by Emefiele.
Femi Gbajabiamila,the Speaker went a step further beyond Doguwa when he cited provisions of the Central Bank act which Emefiele prefer to hide from Nigerians in carrying out his agenda which has inflicted more pains and anguish on citizens than the insecurity of the past eight years.
While he declared that the House of Representatives recognizes the Central Bank of Nigeria’s (CBN) authority to determine the country’s legal tender and to recall currency with reasonable notice, Gbajabiamila believes such is subject to the approval of the President.
Said he,”The House is also aware that Section 20 (3) Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Act mandates the CBN to redeem the face value of the recalled currency upon demand, even after the expiration of the notice of recall.
Said he,”Notwithstanding the deadline imposed by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), this House will see to it that this provision of the law is honoured in full.”
Perhaps Emefiele acted in deference to the general thinking that since the Act governing his operations is inside a book, Nigerians will look away as they don’t read.
Gbajabiamilas intervention is on the face of abdication of duty by the Senate which leadership,Ahmed Lawan, is still battling to secure an illegal party ticket.
Yet, before today’s anguish of the citizenry who had no money to even buy food, buy fuel for their cars and generators, the Representatives summoned Emefiele twice to appear and explain and twice he refused until he got clearance from Buhari in Daura.
Emefieles back tracking from disobeying the Reps may have been influenced by Buhari who himself must have seen the anger on the streets caused by his I’ll advised express order to Emefiele even when the CBN act stated otherwise.
Buharis decision fail to resonate with the above injuction of Time which his lack of respect for, has changed the tide for him by the attitude of Kanos Talakawa and youths who showed him a sample of their anger last week when he came calling.
For Emefiele,who probably believe he can do anything since he and his principal are spending their last tenure in office,the little time he has left as it appears, has changed the story of his career both in life and history book .
He will be regarded as a CBN governor whose policy supposedly intended to reprimand the Rich but has punished and deprived the poor more than he met them .
His policies has reduced the value of the Naira several times while he just capped it by removing the little change in the poor mans hand without replacing it .
The ripple effect of the thoughtlessness of the duo has spread all over the country even when it’s angry citizens are battling to pay more for fuel that are not in the filling stations.
What a Time! What a policy!
A time when election is three weeks away is the time to immobilise the citizens and deprive them of decently earning a living!
Though one of his predecessors Clement Isong,did same thing in 1967, that was an action used to stop a civil war ravaging the country and to prevent it from splitting..
Today, Emefieles mess has turned a united Nigeria upside down such that both the masses and the elite he represents are in turmoil.
Turmoil of a revolution not far from Bola Tinubus prediction in his Abeokuta warning.
Had Emefieles naira redesigning not had hitches and targeted at the poor he and his principal claim to be defending, maybe his fate would’ve been different.
Today,all part of Nigeria is aching as both the rich who had the new notes are afraid to openly enjoy while the poor masses are down and angry and has already turn to a mob.
All this happening under the watch of a government asking for renewal of it’s eight year mandate.
For Buhari,his 123 days left in power and office may turn to be a nightmare during which all his advisers -both known and unknown, may have to hide their heads in shame.
Indeed,his promise to governors of his party to give him seven days Friday shows the lack of quality advice which the President does not avail himself of.
It will be a surprise if Buharis last minute attempt to correct his mistakes is not too late.
It came at a time when the horse has long bolted from the stable.
The shame of getting kicked out by a electoral mob which are hungry and angry .
What is more? the insecurity which though had abated for some months now has now been reinvigorated by currency redesign mess inflicted on the citizenry by a thoughtless government.
For the members of the House of representatives who has seized the initiatives from the Senate,pressures from their 360 constituencies is enough for Speaker Gbajabiamila to remember the Lagos mob waiting for him just as Doguwa in Kano, and many others too,to do the needful and implement the Central Bank Act which Emefiele and the President had thrown under the bus to implement their I’ll thought agenda.
Time is fast thicking also for the 12 APC governors who thronged the Aso rock Villa on Friday to prevail on Buhari who is probably unfazed by public agony,to have a rethink on the new date.
Could all this back and forth attitude and shifting of the goal post be a ploy im to buy time to postpone the election ?
Is it probable that in spite of his promises to stand by his party’s candidate,some proxy powers acting behind the scene are waiting to spring another surprise to derail the transition which Emefieles I’ll thought project portends even to the uninitiated.
.
Could Buhari summon enough courage to beat the powers behind the throne and return fuel and naira notes back to the hands of the ordinary Nigerians left to groan under an evil project ?.
Has President Buhari not fallen into the trap of forces bent on undermining his pledge to conduct a free and fair election ?
Could he sincerely ensure loyalty to his party which Nasir El Rufai, the Kaduna state governor has boasted, he will never undermine?
Time which is fast ticking will Tell as the nation groans.
