Pastor Enoch Adeboye, the General Overseer of the Redeemed Christian Church of God, RCCG, has described the recent decision of the CBN to redesign the Naira as unnecessary, saying what should be the focus of the federal government now is how to help suffering Nigerians from hunger.
Why focus on redesigning naira when it cannot even buy a loaf of bread, the cleric said.
The CBN Governor Godwin Emefiele while defending the apex bank’s decision to redesign the naira, said the aim is to reduce the currency in circulation and tackle inflation.
Not a few Nigerians disagreed with him while others support what the CBN is doing. For instance, the Minister of Finance, Zainab Ahmed said the action portends a serious fiscal problem for the country, while President Muhammadu Buhari said the apex bank has his full backing to change the current design of N200, N500, and N1,000 banknotes.
Speaking on Friday during the November Holy Ghost Service held at the church headquarters in Ogun state, Adeboye said the government should focus on strengthening the naira value with other foreign currencies.
According to the respected man of God, it’s a misplaced priority for the CBN to redesign the currency while it continues to fall in value. CBN should rather focus on what the currency can buy, Adeboye said.
At the end of business on Friday, the naira was exchanged for over N850 to the American dollar.
He said the redesign of the currency “doesn’t even make sense anymore. Our naira now is not even worth the paper it is printed on”.
“And while people are hungry, trying to find enough money to buy bread to eat, our bosses are thinking of making the naira more beautiful, even if it can’t buy bread, at least, it will look beautiful. Oh Lord, have mercy.
“We have problems in the land now. Things seem to be getting funnier and funnier. If you don’t learn to laugh in Nigeria now, you will develop hypertension,” Adeboye said.
