The Federal Government has been instructed to crack down on Nigerians who stockpile US dollars.
The Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Enitan Ogunwusi, provided this advice on Saturday during the graduation of 150 women tricycle riders, which was conducted concurrently with an adire exhibition by South-West adire makers.
Oba Ogunwusi also asked Nigerians to buy locally made fabrics (adire) rather than imported ones in order to support the naira.
The call comes despite the Naira’s ongoing devaluation in the foreign exchange market.
The Ooni, who said Nigerians must curb their desire for imported items in order to safeguard the naira, also urged the government to go after people who hoard dollars.
In his words,
“Honestly, we are the problem of ourselves in this country. Why do we need dollars? We don’t need dollars. Our legal tender is naira. We buy things with naira, so why the pressure on the dollar?
“I implore the government to be very strict. They should go after people keeping dollars, even in their local banks. It doesn’t make any sense because that is not the legal tender of our nation.
“If we patronise our own products in this country, there won’t be pressure on the dollar. The exhibition of our local fabrics, we are very happy about it. We implore the government to be involved in this kind of initiative from time to time.
“Government should promote initiatives like this (adire). These are home-made goods, 100 per cent made with naira. Our leaders should do more. They should wear Nigeria, they should talk Nigeria, they should reason Nigeria.”