NIGERIAN youths under the aegis of the National Youth Council of Nigeria on Thursday said they would organize a 14-day nationwide protest over the scarcity of fuel and Naira.
They, therefore, demanded the sack of the Governor of Central Bank of Nigeria, Godwin Emefiele; Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Timipre Sylva and Group Managing Director of the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation Limited, Mele Kyari by President Muhammadu Buhari for gross incompetence.
Speaking at a press briefing addressed by its Vice President, Mukhtar Akoshile, on behalf of the President, Sukubo Sara-Igbe Sokubo, the NYCN said doing so would save the nation from further economic meltdown.
He lamented that the drivers of the nation’s economy have showcased a lack of technical know-how in handling the economy, adding that Nigeria is regrettably heading to economic doom if nothing is urgently done.
According to him, the protest would hold from February 10 to February 24, 2023.
Akoshile said, “It is disheartening to note that the key persons, on whom Nigerians saddled the responsibility of overseeing the economy of our dear nation, are grossly relegating the earnest and sincere efforts to the background.
”The status quo is that Nigeria, though an oil economy has no revenue from oil; NNPC rather than being a cash cow is now money; and consequently the state which should exist for the development is now a rentier state for the making of few people billionaires.
“All of these is all thanks to the leakages form state’s own enterprise, monstrous oil subsidy market regime, and dereliction of duties of the trio of Emefiele, Sylva, and Kyari.
“Sylva demonstrated incompetence in handling the economy of this great nation. Permit me to pose some few pertinent questions to buttress our current predicament: How do we explain the dwindling oil revenue earning from 60 billion dollars in 2011 to $2.9 billion in 2022? Who should be blamed for why it is bad news for Nigeria while other oil economy is good news during this period of high oil prices and a buoyant oil market?
“How do we defend the astronomical increase in the consumption rate 66 million litres per day in 2020 alongside determining data? Why are the drivers of the economy complacent at the current cost of debt servicing to with revenue being $2.9 billion while servicing rate is $1.9 billion?”
While stating that Nigerian youths were the direct victims of the economic quagmire, Akoshile observed that many businesses have folded up and many investors have left Nigeria sequel to the incessant depreciation of the naira and erratic exchange rates.
He noted that the resultant effect is that millions of youth are disengaged from their jobs and are left unemployed.
“You might wish to know, Nigerian youths and people that most of the intervention programmes they say they mapped out for the Nigerian youth are grossly mismanaged and siphoned under the watch of the CBN governor and the Hon. Minister of Finance. The latest Nigerian Youth Investment Fund program has been grossly mismanaged and siphoned.
“The actual youth who are in dire need of this fund has never benefited from the programme. The beneficiaries are always their families, friends, and cronies. This goes a long way in thwarting good efforts in reducing unemployment in Nigeria and getting the Youth empowered.
“Fellow citizens, this a clarion call of the entire Nigerian youth constituency. In support of this earnest clarion call, over 41,000 Nigerian Youth, from the 774 Local Government Areas and 36 states across the nation including FCT, have appended their signatures to this protest.
“In the light of the above and before we convey our plea, permit us, state that the Nigerian apex youth constituency is greatly pained and to assuage our pains we seek all citizens support to protest nationwide against Emefiele, Sylva and Kyari and pour out the burden of pains and hardship borne from the Ministry of Petroleum, GMD of NNPC and the CBN Governor for their betrayal and disservice to the nation from February 10, 2023 to February 24 2023.”