The Labour Party has described as nauseating, the decision of President Bola Tinubu, to reward the all conquering Nigeria’s Super Falcons with “equivalent to $100,000,” for winning the African Women Championship (WAFCON)
Labour Party in a statement by the interim National Chairman Senator Esther Nenadi Usman, said it is shameful that President Tinubu, the nation’s foremost custodian and presumed chief ambassador of the nation’s currency, to reward the girls in United States dollars.
The National Chairman in the statement by his Senior Special Adviser (Media), Ken Asogwa, described it as “not only nauseating but deeply unpatriotic.”
According to him, “even if, as some may argue, he meant the Naira equivalent, the symbolic elevation of the dollar over our national currency by the commander-in-chief is a damning indictment of his administration’s economic mindset.”
She said the act speaks volumes about the level of disdain and lack of faith the All Progressives Congress (APC) government has in Nigeria’s currency.
“Perhaps, at this rate, we should expect the national budget to soon be presented in dollars, or worse still, in a basket of foreign currencies,” Usman said.
She accused Tinubu’s administration of supervising the free fall of the naira, and said it appears the president has thrown in the towel.
“A president who openly shies away from promoting his national currency sends a dangerous message to the world and to his citizens: that the naira is not worth defending,” she said, and expressed no surprise that the World Bank, in its latest review, listed the naira among the worst-performing currencies in sub-Saharan Africa, which has depreciated by approximately 43 percent year-to-date.
“This has been attributed to surging demand for the US dollar and an eroded confidence in the naira, the actual practice the president has been busy abetting.
“When the highest office in the land sets such a tone, what moral ground do we stand on to call on others to have faith in our currency? If this is not patriotism in reverse, then what is?” Usman wondered.
