I was young, careless, and sloppy in primary school. Mom continued to replace my lost items even after she vowed never to do so again. Even back then, my sloppiness in handling my chores irritated her more than my carelessness. I’d play football all weekend until Sunday at 5.00 PM, when it dawned on me that I needed to wash my school uniforms. My mother would observe my sweating over the washing and my childish pleading for the sun to stay up a little longer to dry my uniforms. My mother’s rage was palpable as she walked by each time I was in this panic mode. And while I was still dazed from a couple of her slaps, I’d hear her refrain: “Igbayi laaro e.” It was a sarcastic remark that meant, “by this time of day?” Or, more recently, “too little, too late.”
“While the Rome of our economy and peace burned, the Nero in our CBN Governor fiddled in loud silence and active inaction.”
For the first time in the nearly two months of acute cash shortage that has impacted all of our lives, the Central Bank of Nigeria is in panic mode. We’ve heard that some banks are staying open until 5.00 p.m., and that all bank branches are being forced to stay open this Saturday and Sunday as the CBN opens its vaults and cleans out the old Naira notes that it claimed had been destroyed.
The obstinate CBN had defied the nation’s highest court with impunity. It trembled a little when, on March 13, the President denied having asked the CBN governor and the Attorney General to defy the Supreme Court. That was almost two weeks after the apex bank’s announcement that the old notes were no longer legal tender. On the same day, the CBN governor broke his silence by issuing a statement in which he denied a widely circulated allegation that he was financially supporting a Lagos governorship candidate against the ruling party’s candidate, ostensibly to further embarrass the President-elect. The governor discovered his voice. However, it was all talk and no action.
The Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) then called for a national strike to begin on Wednesday, March 29, and the governor jumped out of his cabin like a drunken sailor facing an iceberg. He discovered not only his voice, but also his feet and his wit. He promised to personally supervise the process of relieving the nation of his misguided cash crunch policy as he commandeered banks to open this weekend.
“Like my mother, the nation giggles at the governor’s panicky effort and say to him with all the disdain in their cracked voices, “Igbayi laaro”.
While our economy and peace burned, our CBN governor, Nero, fiddled in loud silence and active inaction. The economy has lost an estimated 20 trillion Naira. Our lives have been hung in the balance. National output has reached an all-time low. National shame has never been so openly and visibly displayed. Faced with a national strike that would further cripple the economy and unleash mayhem on an already impoverished populace, the governor has rushed to wash his clothes at this late hour, hoping that the flickering sun of our comprehension and hope will dry his white washing and prevent an impending disaster.
The nation, like my mother, laughs at the governor’s panicked effort and mocks him with their cracked voices, “Igbayi laaro.” It’s too late now.
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