by Chris Kehinde Nwandu
President Mohammed gave an executive fiat that dollars should be sold to all Nigerian pilgrims at the rate of N160 to a dollar instead of the official rate of N196.6, while the parallel market goes for N244 is shocking making the country losing over N40 per dollar.
Viewed from all sides, this is reckless and insensitive. Economically, it is subversive of efforts to revamp public finances, manage the exchange rate, inflation and conserve foreign exchange.
It is exclusionary as it ignores those Nigerians who belong to neither of the two faiths they are often forced to subsidise.
Nigeria is in dire economic straits; there is little or no room for misplaced priorities.
It is wrong for Buhari, who rode to power on the back of the “Change” campaign to have fallen flat for such cheap rhetoric.
Buhari’s policies should be well thought out, not unfolded at a whim. It is doubtful if he weighed the impact of the rash rebate at a time the Central Bank of Nigeria is taking radical measures to conserve foreign reserves and defend the naira.
Chris Kehinde Nwandu (CKN) is a journalist, radio personality, and social media influencer. He is on Facebook.
The opinion expressed in this article are solely those of the author.
