…Says Naira Swap Now COVID-23
From Maduabuchi Nmeribeh, Kano
Kano State Governor, Dr. Abdullahi Umar Ganduje has held meetings with bank managers, Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) representatives, security chiefs in the state, in his bid to find lasting solution to the sufferings of the people occasioned by the Naira Swap policy.
He promised to continue fighting what he described as, “poor policy implementation,” christening it, “COVID-23.”
A Statement released by his Chief Press Secretary, Abba Anwar, on Thursday, indicated that: “In his effort to find lasting solution to the suffering faced by citizens as a result of shortage of new Naira notes and unending queues in banks, Governor Abdullahi Umar Ganduje of Kano state, brainstormed with bank managers, representatuves of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), security agencies and other stakeholders, during an interactive session.”
The meeting took place at Africa House, Government House, Kano.
The Statement quoted Ganduje as saying that: “The policy is a good one, but the implementation is poorly executed and ill-timed. The poor implementation is either a display of incapacity and/or as a sign of sabotage.”
He explained that the implementation was not aimed at economic development, but for destroying democracy and causing confusion all over.
“Implementation of the policy is our major concern and problem. Not the policy itself. If you want to implement such policy, there is a need for you to make public enlightenment and engagement with stakeholders before you arrive at implementation stage.
“If you want to implement any policy as a leader, you need to take many things into consideration. People are suffering.
“Unknown to the implementers of the policy. You cannot successfully implement a policy without properly planing for it. You need strong institutions if you want to implement this kind of policy,” Ganduje said.
He added that Kano state government would continue to fight for the good implementation of the new Naira policy.
“Probably, the people targeted by the poor implementation of this policy are not even suffering like other citizens. Something must be done to ameliorate this hardship being faced by our people,” he stated.
He further reminded the stakeholders about the state government’s intervention during the COVID-19 pandemic, when the state distributed palliatives, adding that, “since we are facing what I now called COVID-23, we are making all preparations towards distributing palliatives again.”
He also promised that as people continue to face hard times, the state government is planning to flood the streets with buses that would be moving people free-of-charge to major destinations in the state
