Nollywood actor Deyemi Okanlawon has reacted to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC)’s recent clampdown on naira abuse.
He recently said that while EFCC is doing the right thing, naira abuse should not be the focus right now.
Speaking during an interview with Nollywood On Radio, Deyemi shared that even if he agrees with any fight against naira abuse, he has an issue with the EFCC’s intense focus on that, while the country battles top-level corruption.
Deyemi revealed that EFCC focusing on prosecuting celebrities who spray money at events currently feels a bit too much, especially given how several corruption cases are ignored nowadays.
“Two things, I think that because something is cultural does not make it right. We have a culture that does not really emphasise on maintenance of things.
We have seen how things are built and we do not maintain it so we continue in that light…They are saying have respect for the naira, have respect for your country, maybe that is the way to do it. But the second thing is that I also think there are so many issues with corruption and crime going on in the country across different segments of people,” he said.
According to him, if Nigerians consistently hear about the agency prosecuting corrupt officials and politicians, then the clampdown on naira abuse wouldn’t seem excessive anymore, since the people will be sure that they are acting in their best interest.
The actor maintained that Nigerian citizens will only obey the EFCC’s strict rules regarding the naira once they can trust that the agency has the moral right to make such requests.
“So this move by the agency to come against entertainers is a bit too much in the light of everything else that we are trying to deal with.
If every day we hear about corrupt officials, politicians, or organisations being brought down by the agency, we’d be more likely to trust that they’re acting in our best interest. Then, if they ask us to stop something like spraying money, we’d likely obey without question because we’d trust that the agency has the moral right to make such requests,” he added.
