At poetry evening, poet revisits Naira crisis, imagines Nigeria’s first female president

Nimi Wariboko, an academic and Walter G. Muelder Professor of Social Ethics at Boston University, United States, has delivered a powerful reflection on Nigeria’s 2023 Naira crisis through a blend of spoken word and critical commentary, revisiting the period’s economic strain with striking clarity.

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PREMIUM TIMES reported that businesses across the country suffered significant losses during the first quarter of 2023, when the scarcity of naira notes, triggered by the Central Bank of Nigeria’s redesign policy, crippled daily transactions and disrupted livelihoods.

The policy, introduced under former CBN Governor Godwin Emefiele during the administration of late President Muhammadu Buhari, sparked widespread hardship and public frustration.

Speaking at a Public Talk and Poetry Evening, attended virtually by this newspaper on Wednesday, the Rivers-born not only revisited the economic turmoil but also cast a hopeful, thought-provoking vision of Nigeria’s future, imagining the emergence of the country’s first female president.

Nigeria’s first female president

He said: “The first poem I’m going to read is the longest, but it’s a poem about the first Nigerian woman who will be sworn in as the president. So I’m sitting here imagining that day when the whole country will celebrate the first female president of Nigeria. So the way the poem works is that there’s part of the poem that’s in English, and there’s an acclamation.

“The expectation is that the day she’s going to be sworn in, different language groups in Nigeria will be dressing up in their own mother tongue. So that is the expectation. If you don’t understand what I’m saying, think of it in your own style.”

Naira don pass Naira

Mr Wariboko argued that the policies of Mr Emefiele and the late Buhari weakened the naira, causing it to lose value against other major currencies.

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He therefore called on Nigerians, both men and women, to pray for the nation’s currency to recover and regain its strength.

The poem read thus, “Buhari, wetin Naira do you? Emefiele, wetin Naira do you? Una don dabaru Naira finish. Na Naira we dey take buy Naira. Naira no want Naira again. Naira dey worship Naira. Naira dey collect tithe from Naira—no be 10 per cent o, e reach 25 per cent, even 40 per cent. Naira don finish patapata. Buhari, wetin we do you? Emefiele, wetin we do you? Una do voodoo economics, but una talk say Naira go strong. See wetin dey happen now—groundnut seller no want am.

“Pastor and Imam dey march am for ground. Dollar dey dagger am, pound, dey pepper am. Lira laugh am—yen, yeye am. Cedi sef don throw am for ground, naira don die o. The ground no gree take am. Na bad death be that o. Abeg, Baba God, bring Naira back to life. Men, make una pray o. Women, make una pray well. Wake up, wake up, wake up. Naira, you no fit die leave us, oh.”

Power pass power

In another poem titled “Power Pass Power,” Mr Wariboko expressed a firm belief that a time would come when Nigerians would rise to challenge public officials who had failed to live up to the responsibilities for which they were elected.

“His excellency is walking pass, power, power, power. The people dey waka pass, car, car. Governor, nah, governor. People, nah, people. One day, be one day, the two go jam. The governor go run. And the people go stand. His excellency is walking pass.

“Power, power, power. One day, be one day. The people go jam am. Their power go stand, he power go run. His excellency is walking pass, power, power, power. One day, be one day. Their knife go jam him preek, their peek goes stand, and him toto go run,” the poem read.

The event also featured a lively segment in which several attendees took to the stage to recite their own poems, adding a delightful, engaging touch to the occasion.