The Anambra state chapter of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) has endorsed the Nigeria Labour Congress‘s proposed nationwide strike.
The strike is being held to protest the effects of the current federal government’s cashless policy, redesigned naira, and currency swap, all of which the association believes have made life more difficult for ordinary Nigerians.
The NLC has threatened to go on a nationwide strike and barricade the offices of the Central Bank of Nigeria if the apex bank does not grant civil servants access to their funds in various commercial banks so they can pay transportation costs to their places of employment and also buy food for their families by Monday of next week.
Anambra state Chairman of CAN, Venerable Joseph Nweke, stated on Thursday during a two-day retreat organized for Anglican Church Bishops and Priests by the Anglican Diocese on the Niger at the All Saints’ Cathedral, Onitsha, that Anambra CAN is firmly behind the proposed nationwide strike.
According to the Venerable, who is the Archdeacon of Onitsha Inland Town Archdeaconry, the negative effects of the poorly executed two policies of a cashless economy and naira swap have turned into a huge embarrassment to the entire Nigerians.
He said;
The Supreme Court has since ordered CBN to release the old naira notes they confiscated from Nigerians since they are not able to give us the redesigned naira notes but it appears they have disobeyed the court order.
African and Western countries that are practicing cashless economy usually build infrastructures first of all upon which the system would run smoothly but in the present policy on the cashless economy in Nigeria, the federal government did not consider infrastructures such as the system that will enhance free flow of cash through the internet.
Secondly, the federal government introduced the two policies of cashless economy and currency swap at the same time and non of them were properly arranged in such a way it will help the citizens. Currently, swap, as a policy is expected that government should print new naira notes so that if you bring your old naira notes, they will swap them with the new ones.
Rather, what they did in Nigeria is to persuade the citizens to surrender their old notes to the commercial banks and instead of swapping them straightaway, they confiscated the old notes without supplying the new ones, thereby throwing the masses into an unprecedented chaos till date.