Femi Adesina, Special Adviser Media and Publicity to President Muhammdu Buhari, has said that the Naira scarcity made him survive on N20,000 in one week.
Adesina, in an article titled “Living on shoestring budget,” explained how he has been surviving.
He began: “We left Abuja on January 23, on a journey that would take us to Bauchi, Lagos, Senegal, Katsina, Kano, and Jigawa States. Return date was January 31, in the evening hours.
“Since January 31 was then the terminal date for key denominations of the naira to be legal tender, I didn’t want to be like the unwise cripple, who had been told that war was approaching, but who stayed put in the same spot. So I parked everything I had, every dime, and sent it to the bank. I didn’t want my modest funds to become something fit only for the museum.”
He continued: “The Central Bank of Nigeria later secured a ten days extension of the deadline from President Muhammadu Buhari, which has now been further extended by a Supreme Court ruling. But it has not changed the fact that I’ve been spending the sum of N20,000 for one week, and I’m still spending it. Shoestring budget? Yes, you are right. That’s what it is.”
He added: “For three days, I operated with just the N6,000 I had in my pocket. By Friday, it had shrunk to N2, 500.00. What a huge war chest!
He disclosed calling his banker to explain his plight and the banker laughed at him but obliged later.
“I sent my driver to collect the money, and promptly cancelled all the engagements I had lined up for the weekend. When you stay in your house, watching football and making yourself happy, you need not spend much money, if at all.”
“From Friday till the following Wednesday, I became very gentle, (by force) stretching N12,000.00 as far as I could. Fortunately, there was enough food at home. If there wasn’t, I would drink garri and groundnuts. And why not? That was what the times called for. Pragmatism. No pain, no gain. It was my own contribution to the success of a policy that was bound to do our country good,” he said.
