Oba Adeyeye Ogunwusi, the Ooni of Ife, has urged the Federal Government to take action against individuals stockpiling dollars, citing the plummeting value of the naira.
Furthermore, the monarch called upon Nigerians to prioritize locally-made fabrics (adire) over imported ones, in an effort to boost the stability of the naira.
Speaking at his palace on Saturday, Oba Ogunwusi presided over the graduation ceremony of 150 women tricycle riders, beneficiaries of the Queen Moremi Ajasoro Tricycle Riders program. The event ran concurrently with an adire exhibition featuring South-West adire artisans.
The women who participated in tricycle riding training were chosen from the four local government areas of Ifeland, where they dedicated three weeks to the program.
The Ooni stressed the importance of Nigerians reducing their reliance on imported goods to safeguard the naira, while also urging the government to take action against dollar hoarders.
He said, ‘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. If we patronise our own products in this country, there won’t be pressure on the dollar.’
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‘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.’
‘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.’
Providing insights into the Queen Riders Initiative, Queen Ronke Ogunwusi, the monarch’s wife, announced that the women had successfully completed their training. She emphasised that participants would receive assistance in obtaining tricycles and could repay the cost gradually.
She said, ‘We have done our research and we are aware that after making their hire purchase payment, on daily a basis, they can still take home up to N7,000.’
‘If we are to quantify it, the empowerment will run into millions of naira, but we offered the training for free with the help of TVS Simba Group in collaboration with the Ooni of Ife’s Queen Moremi Ajasoro Initiative, which is at the forefront of promoting everything that has to do with women empowerment.’