•Deyemi Okanlawon
Actor Deyemi Okanlawon has spoken on the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission(EFCC)’s recent crackdown over naira abuse in an interview on Nollywood On Radio.
He acknowledged the need to respect the naira as a symbol of national pride, drawing a parallel to Nigeria’s broader cultural neglect of maintenance.
“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.
However, he questioned the EFCC’s focus on entertainers for practices like money spraying, especially when high-level corruption remains a bigger issue.
Okanlawon suggested that if the EFCC consistently tackled corrupt officials and organisations, their moral authority would be stronger, making it easier for the public to support actions against cultural practices like spraying money.
“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.
Entertainers like Bobrisky and Cubana Chiefpriest were arrested and tried for naira mutilation whereas Iyabo Ojo, AY Makun were invited by the EFCC because they sprayed money at events.
