Nigerians who engage in dollar hoarding should be punished, the Federal Government has been advised.
This advice was given on Saturday during the graduation of 150 female tricycle riders, which was held concurrently with the South-West adire makers’ exhibition of their work. The Ooni of Ife is Oba Adeyeye Enitan Ogunwusi.
Additionally, in order to support the naira, Oba Ogunwusi urged Nigerians to buy locally produced fabrics (adire) rather than imported ones.
The call is being made as the Naira continues to lose value on the foreign exchange market.
In addition to urging Nigerians to curb their desire for imported goods in order to preserve the naira, the Ooni urged the government to pursue those who are keeping cash on hand.
“Honestly, we are the problem of ourselves in this country,” he said. Why is money necessary? Dollars are not necessary. We use naira as legal tender. Why is the dollar under pressure when we use the naira to make purchases?
I beg you, government, please be very strict. Even those who keep money in their neighbourhood banks should be targeted by them. It makes no sense because that is not accepted as legal tender in our country.
“The dollar won’t be under pressure if we buy our own products here in this nation. We are overjoyed about the exhibition of our regional textiles. We beg the government to occasionally take part in initiatives of this nature.
Initiatives like this (adire) should be supported by the government. These are handmade items that were made entirely with naira. More action from our leaders is needed. They ought to talk and act like Nigerians and wear Nigerian clothing.
