Why Are The Senators Yapping?

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Trust our senators to rise to the bait... advertent or inadvertent...to struggle without relent and give vent to all tempts to abuse and misuse power so long as their interests are under threats...real or imagined.

And so they engage in another round of drama as they roundly condemn a well-intentioned policy of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN)!

This policy aims to monitor the amounts of monies sent abroad and check capital flight...especially illicit capital.

As I marvel at this ingenuous move by the CBN, I wonder why any well-meaning lawmaker would throw tantums in public in undisguised protest against it.

Whereas they played deaf to our collective screams to prune down their allowances... which are no less bogus than they are unsaintly, they quickly rose in unison against the new CBN policy that compels all persons wishing to send funds abroad to go through official channels.

In other words, if you want to send dollars abroad, you would be required to pay its naira equivalent through your bank....meaning that henceforth, it would be illegal for our commercial banks to receive dollars and other foreign currencies from persons resident within the territory of the republic for onward transmission abroad!

Our legislooters did not stop at whining, they actually summoned the Central Bank Governor to come and explain why the apex bank had the temerity to institute such a policy and "cause suffering to a vast majority of Nigerians"!

No! Mr Senator. Point of correction. Not most Nigerians! Just a few privileged ones who are unmindful of the capital flight and the damage it inflicts on the economy.

Those who are uncaring about the state of our schools so long as they can send fractions of their ill-gotten loots abroad as school fees for their kids.

Those who do not give a damn about the state of our health institutions so long as they have easy avenues to siphon their surplus wealth to fund their healthcare needs in foreign hospitals!

Not most Nigerians who toil endless just to put foods in their mouths and roofs over their heads!

For the "businesses" equally yapping for being subjected to undue delays in payment to their foreign "business partners", we know that these entities are mere importers of finished goods and their principals mere hustlers averse to putting their brains to any meaningful use!

And why would a distinguished Senator of the federal republic of Nigeria prefer to source dollars from the black...sorry..."parallel" market and be so shameless as to scream in public when called to order?

Well, thank goodness what they haul this time around are mere tantrums ...and not a couple of chairs... of hefty "blows"!

These shameless felons bent on being addressed as "Honourable"...

...or "Distinguished"?
Dr Tosin Akindele is a medical practitioner and public affairs analyst.

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Articles by Tosin Akindele