Sultan on naira swap: People are hungry, angry — we need to douse tension

Muhammadu Abubakar, the Sultan of Sokoto, says the naira swap policy and resultant scarcity of cash is causing frustration.

Speaking on Monday at a national conference on ‘Livestock Reforms and Mitigation of Associated Conflicts’, the sultan said the relevant authorities must work towards dousing the tension and hardship the policy has caused.

Although the supreme court has temporarily restrained the federal government from enforcing the February 10 deadline for the use of the old naira notes, cash is still scarce across the country.

“The people are hungry. Is there money? No cash. People are angry and hungry. Let’s see how we can douse the tension,” the sultan said.

Abubakar also said the conference should come up with solutions to address the farmer-herder clashes and must implement them at the grassroots.

“Let’s keep politics aside. The issues of development especially for the common man [should be prioritised]. These people that God Almighty gave leadership over could one day, God forbid, rise up [against us],” he said.

“After all these English by professors, how do we get these developments down to the common man who is a farmer, the common Fulani man who doesn’t know anything about development in his life; he only cares about cattle.

“I have been to Benue at least two times as sultan to sit with the governors and traditional rulers to discuss peace in the Benue valley. At the end of it, there are suggestions, but we throw them away. Nothing is done and we are back to square one.

“Let this conference not be in the same manner. Let’s do it and let’s do well and now.”