Traditional Yoruba leaders, operating under the auspices of the Yoruba Obas Forum, have denounced the ongoing nationwide shortage of Premium Motor Spirit, also known as gasoline, and urged the federal government to act quickly to address the escalating crisis.
The monarchs, who had just concluded a meeting in Ibadan, Oyo state, described the shortage of currency brought on by the redesign of the naira as excruciating for business in rural areas and warned the federal government of an impending crisis if the situation wasn’t handled quickly.
The monarchs in a statement jointly signed by the forum’s President and Secretary, the Molokun of Atijere, Oba Samuel O. Adeoye and Olukotun of Ikotun-Ile, Oba. Dr. Abdulrasaq Adebayo, made available to newsmen in Osogbo by the administrator, Elerinmo of Erinmo, Oba (Dr) Michael Odunayo Ajayi, decried the current difficulties encountered by their people in getting the new naira notes as well as non-availability of the currency while recommending an immediate resolution to the hardship by the government.
According to the traditional rulers, whose domain cut across all Southwest states and some North Central states, we are using this medium to call on the government to urgently find an immediate and lasting solution to the current hardship facing the entire people of Nigeria through the scarcity of petroleum products and non-availability of new naira notes.
“The current situation has forced traders to increase the price of their products while it has also affected commercial transportation which is bouncing back on the masses.
“Even the current situation has forced most traders to lock their shops due to their inability to trade and in a bid to avoid collecting the old notes, which were still largely in circulation”.
The statement further affirmed that the cash crunch has affected lots of Nigerians in the rural areas whose major means of getting cash is through POS operators most of whom have now been squeezed out of business leading to excruciating hardship for the vast majority of our people.
“Understanding that a vast majority of Nigerians operate in the informal sector during petty trade and without the level of literacy to handle non cash transactions, this cash crunch has literarily shut their operations down with ripple effects on millions.
“We, therefore, called on federal government to be magnanimous and respond to the cries of the people by immediately reversing this policy by allowing the use of both new and old naira notes concurrently for a long while”, it reads.
Other monarchs at the meeting according to the statement, include; Olukotun of Ikotun-Ile, Oba Dr. Abdulrasaq Abioye, Alayandelu of Odo-Ayandelu, Oba Asunmo Ganiyu, Olasole of Lasole, Oba Dairo Olufayo, the Olujumu of Ijumu Kingdom, Oba Williams Ayeni, the Ologijo of Ogijo, Oba Kazeem Gbadamosi, the Onilekki of Lekki, Oba Liasim Olumuyiwa Ogunbekun and the Alagbado of Agbado, Oba Adedayo Sogbulu.