By Jeleel Olawale
There was palpable fear in Ile-Ife, Osun State and Sango Otta, Joju area, Ogun State in the early hours of Tuesday when angry commercial motorcyclists, members of National Union of Road Transport Workers and youths trooped out en mass to protest against what they called ‘hunger in the land’ as a result of naira scarcity orchestrated by the economic policy of the Federal Government.
The protest started at Lagere and lasted at Mayfair areas in the ancient city. Major roads were barricaded, & burning tyres mounted to express their anger on hardship the naira swap policy had brought.
Observations by our correspondent who moved round the town revealed that the youths blocked Obafemi Awolowo University Teaching Hospital Complex junction, Saabo, Lagere, Mayfair and Obafemi Awolowo University gate where there was no vehicular movement. Passengers were stranded in the absence of commercial vehicles to convey them to their places of work. Commercial motorcycles too were not allowed to ply.
Civil servants, traders who were going to their places of work were stranded on the road while some had to return home or trek to their offices. Banks were shut down across the city to avoid being attacked by the protesting youths.
One of the protesters, who spoke to Nigerian NewsDirect, Mr Timothy Oyesomi, said they were protesting against Naira Swap of Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) policy which has crippled the economic activities of the country.
“Commercial banks are no longer collecting the old naira notes. The policy has brought untold hardship to ordinary Nigerians. We can’t buy fuel to work, banks are not collecting the old naira notes and we can’t feed our families again. We are seriously suffering of hunger. We can’t work again and our wives are being married away because of naira scarcity.
“I want to urge Federal Government to allow us to continue to use the old naira notes and make fuel available. Life has become unbearable for us. We can’t pay our children school fees and other family responsibilities.”
Similarly, Mr Abiodun Ademola, a staff of Power Holding Company of Nigeria said, “This is not the first time of changing naira. We have done it in the past without hardship and why is this different? he asked rhetorically.
“The implementation of the policy has brought untold hardship to ordinary Nigerians but those in government are not affected. The policy does not affect the rich but the poor. The masses are suffering presently. We neither get the old nor new notes and that is why we are protesting.
“We want to urge Federal Government to allow us to continue to spend old and new notes side by side till when the old money will be out of circulation. The banks and filling stations are not collecting the money again, where are we going to spend the money?” he said.
Also, the Chairman, National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW), Ile-Ife Unit, Comrade Adewole Idowu said their members were greatly affected by the policy, saying Federal Government needs to print enough money which everyone will have access to.
“The motorcyclists and motorists are not working because there is no place to spend the money. Passengers are using the old money for their transport fare and we don’t know where to change it to new Naira notes.
“Government should make the new notes more available with a view to ameliorate the hardship the masses are going through. Our members and motorcyclists have currently stopped working.
“We are collecting old naira notes, though we are still awaiting Federal Government directive. If government finally says they are not collecting it, it means we will abide by the government directive.
He, therefore, called on government to come to the plight of the masses by making the money available to ease hardship being experienced by Nigerians. “They should come to our aid as the ongoing protest concerns workers, artisans and everybody.”
According to so many protesters on ground clamoring and aggressively protesting about the operations of the banks, they claim that the banks refused to grant them access to the bank and not accepting the old notes, whereby the new notes is said to be unavailable.
One of the Zenith Bank customers who was interviewed at the protest ground by our correspondent, complained that the bank debited him of numerous transactions for over two weeks and he has been coming for reversal, with no positive response on it.
While the protest is still ongoing, so many security operatives like the soldiers, policemen and NSCDC officers from different divisions were all present to calm the whole situation as the protest kept getting heated.
Also two kings in the vicinity were present also calm the situation and address the protesters but there was no decorum from anyone, as the protesters keep clamoring, shouting, marching on with placards, singing solidarity songs, saying, “banks should open and give us our money, we are hungry.”