NYCN President, Ambassador Sukubo Sokubo while briefing Journalists in Abuja. Photo: Peter Ireh
The National Youth Council of Nigeria (NYCN) has directed Nigerian youths across the country to embark on 14 days of protests against the hardship being faced by Nigerians due to the CBN’s naira redesign policy and the continuous fuel scarcity nationwide.
The NYCN also called for the immediate dismissal of the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Godwin Emefiele and the Minister of State for Petroleum, Chief Timipre Sylva for what it described as their “deliberate attempts to subject Nigerians to untold hardship”.
The President of the Council, Ambassador Sukubo Sokubo told Journalists in Abuja that Mr Emefiele and Chief Sylva have “proven not to be qualified” to hold such sensitive positions, with Nigerians, particularly the youths, now wasting man-hours queuing to get cash and fuel at banks and filling stations.
Mr Sukobo attributed the country’s dwindling oil revenue to what he described as a “lack of expertise” on the part of the Minister of State for petroleum.
The NYCN president equally blamed the CBN Governor for “all the challenges facing Nigerians”, alleging that all specially designed programmes mapped out by President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration have not been properly managed by the apex bank.
“You might wish to know, Nigerian Youth and People, that most of the intervention programmes they say they mapped out for the Nigerian Youth are grossly mismanaged and siphoned under the watch of the CBN Governor and the Minister of Finance,” he complained.
“The latest Nigerian Youth Investment Fund (NYIF) programme has been grossly mismanaged and siphoned. The actual Youth who are in dire need of this fund have never benefited from the programme. The beneficiaries are always their families, friends and cronies. This goes a long way in thwarting good efforts in reducing unemployment in Nigeria and getting the Youth empowered.”
He said the call for the sack of the two public servants became imperative to save the country, not least from the crises emanating from the cash crunch and fuel scarcity.
The Supreme Court had on Wednesday restrained the Federal Government and the CBN from continuing with the full implementation of the demonetisation policy.
Reporting by Peter Ireh; Editing by Oluwaseyi Ajibade, Abdullahi Lamino and Tony Okerafor