New currency will make kidnappers to ask for dollars—Sheikh Gumi

Islamic scholar, Sheikh Ahmad Gumi, has criticized the move by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to change the new Naira notes, saying their argument and other reasons might push kidnappers to start demanding for dollars from their victims. 

Gumi stated this in a statement he released on his Facebook page on Saturday. 

He said the Naira redesigning will further worsen the suffering of the common man. 

“I, the Islamic scholar contended that the policy was clearly anti-people as it is ill-timed for a government that is winding up to take such measures. Eighty per cent of Nigerians, especially the rural dwellers depend on cash transactions. A sudden change to a cashless or cash-starved society will mean pauperising them in a short time and this can trigger – God Knows- an unprecedented socio-economic turmoil in this semi-skilled or unskilled population. 

People that sell goods will tell you that most Nigerians don’t have the money to buy things; therefore most traders are running at a loss and are already folding up. At this junction, anything that can cause more cash crunch will be a disaster for the nation. Speaking further, Gumi lamented that: “Many good ideas are marred by wrong timing. This is likely to be another one. No matter how ingenious the hatchers may romanticise, the benefit will remain phantom since the reality on the ground is incongruous and it spells doom for the escapade.” 

He said such a programme is not expected of a government that is already going out of power, adding that it’d have been logical if it had started in 2015. “As for the North which is poorly represented in the banking system, it’s a sure economic suicide. How many Nigerians have access to banks? How many do have the privilege to enjoy the most simple of banking loans?.

As for the question of starving kidnappers of Naira, it goes without saying that they will resort to Dollars and other hard currencies which will further put more pressure on it making the rotten situation worse.”