Sheikh Ahmad Gumi, Controversial Islamic cleric, has said that the plan by the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, to curb kidnapping in the country through the redesign of the N200, N500, and N1,000 notes is not effective as terrorists already have access to the new notes.
Gumi noted that the terrorists were “people who have grievances and also like to improve their image” adding that citing terrorism as the reason for naira redesign would not bring any results.
Speaking in an interview with PUNCH on Saturday, the cleric said the terrorists had mocked Emefiele by the viral video of them displaying the new notes.
He said, “I was one of the people that said it (the CBN initial deadline) was not feasible and I envisaged that it was going to be removed. The government has programmes but in executing the programmes, it is very clumsy; it’s not well thought out. I heard an economist saying that when you have three great events in the same year using the same resources, one has to give way. You cannot over-task your donkey, else, it will collapse.
“An upheaval would have come (if CBN didn’t extend the deadline). Look at how popular Buhari was in Kano and suddenly, people in Kano were turning against him. It is really sad to see that. In Sudan, a mere increase in the price of bread caused the fall of the government because the people depend on it. There is despair among people; they will turn against you, so you don’t take people for granted.
Speaking on the video of terrorists displaying the new notes, he said “These (terrorists) are people who have grievances and also like to improve their image. The CBN governor mentioned that the reason for changing the notes was to deprive terrorists (of money). They (terrorists) hear him and say, “Here is your money with us”. They can catch (kidnap) people and collect new ones (naira notes) and even demand something else like foreign currency. So, citing terrorism as the reason for this draconian rule in a democratic nation is negative; it will not bring any good results. It (the display of new notes by the terrorist) is a show of mockery.
“First, those in the almajiri system are not involved in criminality, banditry, or Boko Haram because they (pupils) are already under the tutelage of a leader they respect, though they can be engaged in other forms of crime like thuggery. So, no child should be left behind in Nigeria. Every government should make sure education is well-taken care of.
“The economy is very important. The person (new President) should improve the economy. Once the economy is improved, a lot of these problems will go down naturally. Another thing is employment. Job creation is a very important programme any government should embrace. Security should be improved too. There is a lot of corruption in our security (agencies) which should be flushed out. They know how to bring out the moles. They just need to be proactive.”