It quite unfair how deeply we make life difficult for ourselves as a nation and as a people. The latest is the indiscriminate increase of the price of fuel and the current directive by the Central Bank of Nigeria on new naira notes. Although the economy of Nigeria depends mostly on cash, though the CBN is encouraging people to adopt electronic banking, but to some analysts the policy is premature. In the last few weeks, Nigerians are going through a lot; there is fuel scarcity, naira scarcity, power supply problems and rising inflation and people are not happy, they have been caught in the middle of a plummeting economy and a paralyzing insecurity situation.
Many Nigerians find it difficult to have access to cash to purchase needed items and pay for transportations due to the naira redesign crisis, the renewed cashless policy by the Central Bank of Nigeria, the scarcity of old and new naira notes at all payment points; banking halls, Automated Teller Machine and Point of Sale terminals. These subjected many Nigerians to serious hardship. Long lines and long hours are being spent at cashpoints since late January, after the rush to deposit the old naira notes towards the initial deadline of January 31. But to withdraw enough new notes to meet daily expenses becomes difficult. Food vendors, transportation vendors and small businesses reject electronic payments. Bank servers are failing due to pressure on the usages, and banks have become targets of mounting anger from the frustration caused by the search for the new naira notes. Untold hardship and frayed tempers are seen due to the shortage, particularly those who survive on daily cash income and citizens residing in the rural areas. This has caused some persons to vandalize bank properties and some stripped naked to display their rage.
As protests and anger continue to spread across the country over the scarce naira notes, coupled with pockets of attacks on banks and their staff members by furious customers, bank workers have expressed concerns over their safety. In what many have described as unprecedented in the history of the country, Nigerians now pay exorbitant charges to get the naira notes from POS operators. As of Saturday afternoon, in some parts of Lagos, N5,000 old notes attracted N1,000 commission while N6,000 new notes attracted as much as N2,000 commission. The naira swap, while necessary, should not have come with a lot of economic discomfort for the people it is meant to serve. If actions are not taken to improve on the current situation, more people will move to the street to protest. This eventuality could threaten public peace and ultimately lead to the abortion of the elections.
What is even worse is the posture of our leaders who appear untouched by the myriads of incapacitation that we are daily confronted with. The exchange of old naira notes for new ones has been a major issue across the country. The lack of conducive economic policy directive has cost Nigeria and Nigerians so much in the last few months, talk less of the horrendous economic misadventure through several years. Governments at all levels must be responsible and ensure that all things are done with the best interest of the masses at heart. The economic realities are extremely harsh, and we must all fight to make our lot better.
The new naira implementation should be done with the masses’ interest at heart as well. The shortage of the new naira could impact the coming elections positively. It stops the inflow of illicit money used for political purposes, if well managed it may reduce the vote buying, which is one of the objectives of the CBN monetary policy on the new naira. Often, cash facilitates illegal and criminal transactions because they are not easy to trace. We know of corrupt government officials stashing cash at home to the tune of billions of Naira because they cannot put it in the bank for fear of being detected. These illicit monies always find its way in the system during elections for different unlawful purposes. Drug dealers, bandits, and kidnappers, which were rampant in the recent past struggle to operate in a cashless society. A friend told me that the kidnapping has reduced in the past few days of the cash scarcity in Nigeria. There is a direct correlation between the ease of moving cash and kidnapping and banditry, especially in the North-East and South-East. The political reasons of Naira redesign are evident, but the implications, and consequences are causing Nigerians to suffer.
There are several reasons countries around the word redesign their legal tender, mostly is for the prevention counterfeit currencies. This is the time to rein the excesses of the Naira crises, deal with both the intended and unintended consequences and give the Nigerian electorate a reasonable chance to vote based on their conscience and elect leaders that will make a difference in their lives.
James Nwachuya #EMBA28
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