Comedian Alibaba and Reno Omokri have both reacted to the directive by the Federal Government to the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, to stop giving foreign exchange for the importation of food.
The directive was revealed by President Buhari when he hosted governors of the All Progressives Congress (APC) to an Eid-el-Kabir lunch at his country home in Daura, Katsina State.
According to him, this will enable foreign exchange to be available for the diversification of the economy.
Reacting to the development, Comedian Alibaba advised such should be done concerning petroleum products.
He shared:
“A BAN ON FOREX FOR FOOD IMPORT IS NOT A BAN ON FOOD IMPORT. YOU CAN IMPORT. JUST GO FIND YOUR FOREX.
“About time, now if you want to import all your foreign food, source your forex by yasef. Shebi you are in the business to make money.
“Once Dangote refinery opens, they should do the same for petroleum products. Find your money. NNPC should not be seen importing sef. It’s a shame. Fix your refineries. How come, all these boys are refining products with drums and firewood, yet we, as a country can’t?
“When there was a ban on fruit juice importation, didn’t 5Alive, JustJuice, DonSimon and co leave? Didn’t that help #Chivita to dominate the market?
“Let’s increase Electricity to 150,000 megawatts and tell all them car makers “Wosss wobiii ‘
“if you don’t have a plant in Nigeria, the let Innosson motors take over your market”.
“That’s not to say, we will resign ourselves to substandard products o. It just means the businesses get a fighting chance to survive. Without the pressures of foreign backed competition. And it doesn’t stop anyone from importing. But when your foreign Toyota Camry lands Nigeria at a duties enhanced N85m, and the Nigerian Assembled one sells for N18m, autocorrect will help you.”
However, Reno Omokri who reacted to the directive stated that President Buhari is only being g hypocritical.
He tweeted:
”General Buhari should also ask the CBN not to provide forex for medical tourists. No Nigerian has consumed forex for personal reasons like General @MBuhari, who spent almost 6 months in England in 2017, but the hypocrite doesn’t want forex for the masses good! HypocriteBuhari”
He added:
“Since we also have schools in Nigeria, I hope General @MBuhari, will order the CBN not to provide forex for his kids who currently school in England. So selfish a leader. He wants to ban forex for food for the masses, while he educates his kids abroad with forex HypocriteBuhari”