Buhari Closing The Border Played A Role In The Current Hardship – Zaid Ayuba

The National President of the Arewa Youth Consultative Council, Zaid Ayuba has come out to speak on the economic hardship in Nigeria.

He recently had his say while speaking to the press, and Nigerians have been reacting.

According to him, the closure of borders without the provision of other alternative ways for the citizenry has amounted to the several problems and increase suffering in the land, so Buhari definitely played a major role.

He added that Buhari also collected several loans in billions, and a lot of these monies were not accounted for.

His words, “All democratic leaders in Nigeria from (Olusegun) Obasanjo, (Umaru) Yar’Adua, (Goodluck) Jonathan, (Muhammadu) Buhari to (Bola) Tinubu are all responsible for the economic problems of Nigeria, but since 2015 till date, some of the economic policies of the past and this current administration are blunders. This is because, as a youth leader representing the youths in the 19 northern states, some of these economic policies especially during the tenure of President Buhari and the current government are the reason behind the escalation of insecurity.

Looking at it not only from the economic angle but also from social, religious, and political angles, you will realise that the closure of borders without the provision of other alternative ways for the citizenry will amount to several problems and increase suffering. People who are complaining that President Buhari laid the foundation of this suffering have every reason to do so. During his tenure, several loans in billions were collected and at the end of the day, they were not accounted for. A lot of policies like the naira redesign by Godwin Emefiele and the closure of borders have caused loopholes in the country’s economy.

I think the Federal Government is trying its best. The question of whether they are responding the way they should; no, they are not. For every sincere country in the world, one of the fundamental things they do is to achieve a secure society. In a country where there is multidimensional inflation, one cannot even explain the rate at which prices increase – rice, exchange rates, and a host of others. They are trying but they are not doing it the way they should.

The borders are closed in the name of what economic policy? What economic policy justifies that? Our security system may be providing arms, but when the people are hungry and the income per capita is not in reality with their survival, that is to say, the government is wasting its time. When they move one step forward, they take three backward. For the security of Nigeria, there is supposed to be effective coordination among certain ministries of the government.

When you tell people that $1 is equal to N1,000, they will not believe you. Today, do not be surprised that by the end of February, the dollar could reach N2,000. This is one of the insensitivities of the government. How can you allow agencies like the International Monetary Fund and others to determine anything? To me and others in the North, they seem to be enemies of developing nations like Nigeria. How will Nigeria’s economic system allow the dollar to decide on the naira? They need to go back to former Presidents Yar’Adua and Jonathan’s formula on how they got it right. It is a shame that the currencies that used to be less than the naira in value are now more powerful than the naira.”