THE NEW FIVE THOUSAND NAIRA CURRENCY IS NOT PANACEA TO ABJECT POVERTY IN NIGERIA!

ZION B-BC NEWSLETTER. A Publication of the Zion Faith Bible-Believing Church, Kpeyegyi, Abuja Nigeria. [VOL. 4 . NO 121 . 6 December, 2015.} “… ONLY The Truth, Will Set You Free! (John.8:32).

THE NEW FIVE THOUSAND NAIRA CURRENCY IS NOT PANACEA TO ABJECT POVERTY IN NIGERIA !

T he highest currency denomination of the Central Bank of Nigeria is ONE THOUSAND NAIRA NOTE but suddenly and with great surprise brand new FIVE THOUSAND NAIRA NOTES were printed with the advent of the new administration and are being distributed freely to extremel y poor and jobless Nigerians on the social media of the Face Book, Twitter, Instagram , Blogs and the various internet devices to drive home the need to fulfil the promise of a campaign stunt made by the All Progressives Congress (APC) and its presidential candidate during intense lobbying of the electorate in the period before the 2015 general elections ! The introduction of this new denominat ion would not have attracted headlines but for the fact that for about six months since 29 May, 2015, no one denied nor confirmed that such promise was made or existed until very recently when two of the brand new Federal Cabinet Ministers divulged vague and not categorical information in respect of the brand new notes in circulation! The o ne in charge of Youth and Sports said: “The five thousand naira stipend campaign promise by APC could not be implemented yet because it was not appropriated for in the 2015 Budge t, but would certainly be accommodated in 2016 to allevi ate the plight of JOBLESS YOUTHS ” He also said APC was committed to all campaign promises of jobs and wealth creation as some of the youth empowerment programmes were being reviewed to become more viable and people-oriented. He totally sidelined the very poor citizens who could hardly eek a living.

And the other saddled with the Information and Culture Ministry also said in the same vein in other not to contradict his colleague : “ APC has guaranteed Nigerians that it will not go back on its campaign promise to pay N5.000 monthly to unemployed Nigerian Youths through the funds captured in the Treasury Single Account (TSA), which accrued over N1.4 trillion in September, 2015.” He blamed the unhealthy situation of the Federal Government coffers on past administrations of the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), which bled the nation dry! IT IS VERY IMPORTANT THAT PRESIDENT BUHARI – THE ACCLAIMED CRUSADER OF THE TALAKAWAS- SPEAK OUT VERY QUICKLY ON THIS ISSUE TO CLARIFY ALL MISUNDERSTANDINGS ONCE AND FOR ALL BEFOR E THE COMMENCEMENT OF THE STIPENDS IN 2016 ! Neither of the two Ministers gave the modalities or the specific pattern to be followed in identifying and arriving at a determined statistics of the population of Nigerians who would qualify to be tagged as Youths or the “abjectly poor” and the process of the m onthly payment when the programme eventually commenced! Let us assume that only 25 million Nigerians are truly very poor , Federal Government would need a whooping sum of O ne Hundred and Twenty Five billion naira (N125 billion), monthly appropriation to cater for them and if we multiply that sum by the 12 months of the year, President Buhari’s administration would need ONE TRILLION AND FIVE HUND RED BILLION (N1.5 trillion)! Can any economist tell us why the F ederal G overnment of N igeria would prefer to spend about one quarter of its annual budget as “AWOOF” – (meaning free money) for either jobless youths or very poor Nigerians in this dissemination of confusing information by the able ministers and even ensure that the monies would not end up in the hands of VERY POOR GHOSTS instead of focussing on job creation opportunities for all and sundry in the Agriculture and Solid Minerals Sectors ? During the recent 67 Convocation Ceremony of the University of Ibadan, in November, the Vice President, ‘ Yemi Osin bajo , identified some of the challenges confronting the nation as infant and materna l mortality negative statistics, extreme poverty ratio, insecurity, climate change and the rabid activities of Boko Haram Terrorists and described them as monsters that should not be allowed to fester . He advocated for character reformation, creativity and technology amongst Nigerians to give the necessary support to PMB’s Administration for the much required policy direction that would positively shape the country’s future adding that the F ederal G overnment was committed to responsive g overnance that wa s focussed on the ordinary jobless Nigerians. A critical study of Nigeria’s ruling party’s manifesto reveals the innate passion of the founding fathers of the Change mantra to build formidable and enduring institutions that would permanently cater for social and economic needs of the citizens without creating inadequacies in any form! Of the Six Priority Areas of its mission statement; Human Capital and Economic Development have priority of place in a clear policy direction which articulates the need for urgent enhancement and implementation of coherent health education and social welfare policies, quality academic education at all levels with a view to creating a pool of skilled Nigerians that would form the bedrock of the economic development a genda.

The All Progressives Congress (APC) Government promised to build the economy by adop ting the bottom-up approach of small and medium business enterprises that would germinate from the grass root of the nation’s land and natural resources. There was also a strategic plan to promote Youth Development through Sports and Entertainment Industry and the provision of sustainable social safety net with a priority for the most vulnerable groups throug h adequate National Security, Good Governance , Clear Public A ccountability frame works and a promotion of peaceful co-existence among all Nigerians ! In all of the above, priority was stressed on the development of lasting institutions and infrastructures through the meticulous development of the human capital capabilities which would serve as the mine-field for generating all necessary funds through the various well-coordinated programmes of government and not the misnomer of stipends that would further aggravate an individual’s poverty situation and simultaneously perpetuate the cul-de-sac to institutional bankrup t cy ! Neither the APC Management team nor President Muhammadu Buhari, have denied not retracted the campaign promise of paying a monthly allowance of five thousand naira (N5000.00), to some thousands of poverty-stricken Nigerians but from all information at our disposal, the Federal Government is at a cross road of confusion with regard to the implementation of this “goody goody” of the Father Christmas Party !

We need to remind Mr. President that before his Change Agenda, some Youth employment-driven programmes foisted by past administrations like National Poverty Eradication Programme (NAPEP), S ubsidy R e- investment Programme (SURE-P) , and Y outh Enterprise With Innovation In Nigeria (Y OU WIN ) , turned out to be flukes as the unemployment statistics remained on the high side because not less than 70 per cent of Nigerian live on about USD 1.5, (about N250.00), per day! Will the controversial peanut N5000.00 stipend that will definitely turn out to be the DRAIN PIPE OF THE FLEDGING ECONOMY perform the miracle of alleviating the debacle of jobless Nigerian s or compound the present austerity posture of the new government? Some groups are already heading for the courts to compel the APC Government to pay the monies with immediate effect but we must advise caution at this point because it would turn out to be a wasteful judicial exercise since the promise had no legal backing! We therefore share the reluctance of some APC Senators who developed cold feet when the matter was tabled before the red chambers recently and advice that a window of apology to Nigerians on that error of commission and an appeal to their conscience that such payments would result in huge wastage of scarce funds and proffer a wiser and better economic advantage in the immediate setting up of agricultural and solid mineral projects that would create employment opportunities of a long-lasting advantage in the SIX GEO-POLITICAL ZONES with the funds that have accrued in the TSA! P resident M uhammadu B uhari should also call all APC members of the Nigerian Governors Forum (NGF), to stop the group ’ s drive for a downward review of the NATIONAL MINIMUM WAGE of N18.000.00, which they now claim ed wa s threatened by the poor state of the economy BUT which we have noticed has not in any form affect ed their regular annual salaries, allowances, SECURITY VOTES and life styles of opulence predicated on exotic fleet of official and private vehicles, expensive taste for holidays abroad and their preference for personal private jets for local and foreign flights instead of patronizing commercial airlines! It was high time that the Change mantra bega n to yield dividends because most of the APC Governors have not discarded the PDP ’s lifestyle of wastage in governance which PMB is poised to erase and which he had demonstrated in his choice of ministers and their frugal pay packets which was embraced and accepted by the new crop of diligent and dignified men and women who cared less about the lucre of office but in efficient delivery of the dividends of democracy to the masses ! Those money-monger governors needed to be reminded of the divine condemnation of BREACH OF PROMISE in respect of their new posture of reneging on the payment of the workers legitimate wages because those who indulge in such unwholesome attitudes would incur the wrath of GOD ! (Numbers. 30:2; Ecclessiastes.5:4-5). We also plead with Nigerians –especially the Youths- to accept PMB’s apologies over the N.5000 stipend whenever he decides to offer them because we are very certain that the PROPOSAL WOULD NOT WORK! W e should all look forward to the much advantageous investment of such huge funds instead allowing them to be flushed down the DRAINS! A WORD should be enough for the WISE!

Please look forward to more divine revelation in the next edition of Zion B-BC Newsletter as you share this with friends and remain blessed in the Lord.

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If you have not accepted the Lord Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and Saviour, don’t miss this great opportunity as you pray this prayer: Lord Jesus; I confess that I am a sinner who needs to be saved through the grace of the New Testament of your Blood, shed on the Cross at Calvary; I renounce every sin in my life and accept you as my Lord and Saviour. Please forgive me and write my name in the Book of Life. Amen. If you prayed this prayer, you have been admitted into the family of sons and daughters of God, who are born-again. Congratulations.

I am, yours sincerely, Dr. David B.A. Olufon, Resident Pastor and Editor. 08130669886, 08098194390. g-mail- dvdolufon@gmail.com .