‘We Don’t Need Dollars’ – Ooni Tells FG To Clamp Down On Dollar Hoarders

The Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Enitan Ogunwusi, has called on the Federal Government to clamp down on Nigerians hoarding Dollars.

Naija News reports that Ooni made the plea on Saturday during the graduation of 150 women tricycle riders, held side-by-side with the adire exhibition by South-West adire makers.

Speaking on the continuous depreciation of the Naira in the foreign exchange market, the traditional monarch said Nigerians are responsible for the problems confronting them.

He noted that the country does not need dollars, stressing if Nigerians patronise locally made products, there would not be so much pressure on the foreign currency.

Oba Ogunwusi called on the government to go after those hoarding dollars and also it should be involved in the exhibition of local products.

In his words, “Honestly, we are the problem of ourselves in this country. Why do we need dollars? We don’t need dollars. Our legal tender is Naira. We buy things with Naira, so why the pressure on the dollar?

“I implore the government to be very strict. They should go after people keeping dollars, even in their local banks. It doesn’t make any sense because that is not the legal tender of our nation.

“If we patronise our own products in this country, there won’t be pressure on the dollar. The exhibition of our local fabrics, we are very happy about it. We implore the government to be involved in this kind of initiative from time to time.

“Government should promote initiatives like this (adire). These are home-made goods, 100 per cent made with Naira. Our leaders should do more. They should wear Nigeria, they should talk Nigeria, they should reason Nigeria.”