The Special Adviser on Media and Publicity to President Muhammadu Buhari, Femi Adesina, has disclosed that he’s also been affected by the Naira scarcity occasioned by the Central Bank of Nigeria’s (CBN) currency redesign policy.
Adesina, in an article titled “Living on shoestring budget,” said he has been spending N20,000 in a week.
The presidential aide explained how he has been surviving despite the new Naira scarcity plaguing the nation.
Adesina said he, alongside some others, had left for a journey that would take them to “Bauchi, Lagos, Senegal, Katsina, Kano, and Jigawa,” from January 23 to January 31.
He said, “I didn’t want to be like the unwise cripple, who had been told that war was approaching, but who stayed put in the same spot.
“So I packed everything I had, every dime, and sent it to the bank. I didn’t want my modest funds to become something fit only for the museum.
“The Central Bank of Nigeria later secured a ten days extension of the deadline from President Muhammadu Buhari, which has now been further extended by a Supreme Court ruling. But it has not changed the fact that I’ve been spending the sum of N20,000 for one week, and I’m still spending it. Shoestring budget? Yes, you are right. That’s what it is.”
Adesina said he spent N6,000 for three days and by Friday, it had shrunk to N2, 500.00.
He said what many Nigerians don’t know is that government officials are also itchy and scratch hard, supporting his words with the proverb, “The hen sweats, but its feathers make the sweat indiscernible.”
He further disclosed that he called his banker to explain his plight to him, but the banker laughed at him.
“After seeing that I was serious, he said the best he could do was get N20,000.00 for me, through the Automated Teller Machine, which was his own entitlement for the day. Well, beggars can’t be choosers, and half bread, as they say, is better than none.
“I sent my driver to collect the money, and promptly cancelled all the engagements I had lined up for the weekend. When you stay in your house, watching football and making yourself happy, you need not spend much money, if at all,” he said.
The president’s spokesperson said he had to confront the first challenge of filling his fuel car tank which was almost empty and would take about N15,000 to fill up.
He decided to buy N8,000 fuel “from Friday till the following Wednesday, I became very gentle, (by force) stretching N12,000.00 as far as I could.
“Fortunately, there was enough food at home. If there wasn’t, I would drink garri and groundnuts. And why not? That was what the times called for. Pragmatism. No pain, no gain. It was my own contribution to the success of a policy that was bound to do our country good,” he said.
Adesina further described attacks on banks, looting of shops and engagements in civil disobedience, as unnecessary.
The Naira redesign policy and the deadlines that followed, have led to protests in Ondo, Edo, Oyo, Kano, among others. The scarcity of petrol has further fuelled the fire.
While advising Nigerians not to take laws into their hands, Adesina noted that with time, new Naira notes will be surplus in the country.
“Cash is coming, more than we need, and our national economy, the political process, and our lives generally, shall be the better for it. Just a little while, and the halcyon days will come. But for now, no pain, no gain. We will surely get there,” he added.