Forex ban: Nigeria has vast lands for cemeteries — Umar replies Buhari, Emefiele

Buhari gave directives to ban forex for imported food products.

What's the uproar all about? The recent ban on milk importation? Or the most recent forex restriction placed on imported food products?

President Mohammadu Buhari has in a recent statement, said as long as he remains president, he'll make sure Nigeria becomes self-sufficient in food production. So why waste precious forex on products already produced in the country?



While Nigerians may beg to differ and see these recent bans as a typical Buhari policy meant to inflict more hardship on the masses, the country's Central Bank boss, Mr Godwin Emefiele is fully with the president and pledged to aggressively implement Buhari’s directive to restrict forex for food importation.




According to the CBN boss, there's actually nothing new about the recent bans since the Central Bank has previously placed bans on 41 items out of which majority are food items. He said the recent directive by the president is purely meant to strengthen the position of the CBN with regards to its policies, and to say that he believes in what the CBN has been doing since 2016.

But Nigerians are wary of moves made by the Buhari presidency who has been accused of not heeding to the plight of the masses.


Muhammad Awwal Umar is one of many Nigerians who sees the Buhari administration as a government living in its own world.


In a recent facebook post shared on its Facebook page, the Nigerian Central Bank (CBN) quoted Emefiele's response on the President's ban directive.



The post reads, "If we have a food item that can be produced in the country, why waste scarce foreign exchange to import it."

But reacting to the post, Umar sarcastically says, "No need to waste it sir, most expecially now that all our Sillos are filled and people are not crying Hunger. Go ahead Sir, Nigeria has a vast land for cemetry, besides the Country is already populated and the era of needing mass votes has passed."



Umar is simply saying what the Buhari administration deems as right, necessary and timely, is completely the opposite in the eyes of Nigerians who are already struggling to survive under the current administration. He also suggested that since votes in the country no longer count, lives that will be lost due to the policies won't matter after all.