The founder of Change Movement Nigeria, Mr. Olu Adegoke, has thrown his weight behind the ongoing campaign by the Human Rights Writers’ Association of Nigeria (HURIWA) for the boycotting of Access Bank. The bank stands accused of sacking hundreds of workers only to spend about N200 million to bring in an American singer, Mariah Carey, to perform at its Christmas concert.

“In solidarity with the sacked 200 staff of Access Bank, I am calling on all my friends to close down their accounts with Access Bank. Let us stand with HURIWA on this cause. Enough of taking bull shit from these corporate robbers. It is wicked to sack 200 workers only to spend 200 million to host a musician,” the Ibadan-based Adegoke said in a message posted on his Facebook wall yesterday.

Change Movement Nigeria prides itself as “the Voice of the Voiceless, the Conscience of the nation and the future of the country.”

“We are committed to adopting non-violent means to actualize our goals of a new country devoid of tribalism, mediocrity, religious fundamentalism, no-colonialism and corporatocracy,” says a message on the group’s website. “We call for an open-government, accountable leadership and informed political space. We demand a nation where the resources of all shall be distributed within limits of agreed justice. We call for the end of poverty.”

As reported yesterday by News Express, the Abuja-based HURIWA last Friday flagged off a campaign to boycott Access Bank’s services over its anti-poor management strategy.

“Today we served Access Bank notice that we will on Monday severe all business relationship with them by closing down our accounts. As a struggling NGO we have very insignificant transactions with Access Bank but we appeal to good spirited Nigerians to pull out their savings because of the inhumane action of sacking 200 staff and at the same time coughing out N200 million to hire foreign musician recently,” HURIWA’s National Coordinator, Emmanuel Onwubiko, said.

News Express sought to get the reaction of Access Bank but the Corporate Affairs Manager, Segun Fafore, did not respond to text messages sent to his phones on Saturday and yesterday.

•Photo shows American singer Mariah Carey whose exclusive Lagos gig cost Access Bank hundreds of millions of naira even as the bank was sacking hundreds of workers.

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