Even with the deadline extension for the swap of the old notes with the new notes, the queues at the bank halls and ATMs have stayed the same
“Cash no dey anywhere” is now a common saying, an anthem on the lips of so many Nigerians. The twin challenges of Naira and fuel scarcity, one holding on to the other like Jacob to Esau’s heel, is a bitter pill to swallow.
Days have gradually turned to weeks, weeks into months, and the sting of the scarcity of the new naira notes continues to be a thorn in the flesh of the large populace whose daily survival depends on it. Access to the new notes has been a herculean task; withdrawing the stipulated cash withdrawal limit requires an excruciating amount of effort.
Some commercial banks have been forced to shut down their branches over rising attacks from angry customers who are already at their wit’s end and have begun to take laws into their own hands. Some attacks on these banks have witnessed protests that degenerated into riots.
Several videos have circulated on social media platforms showing bankers fleeing the bank premises through the fence with a ladder to escape the fury of their irate customers. Black market merchants of the Naira, such as Point of Sales (POS) agents, have greatly multiplied their charges on withdrawals and deposits. They decry the ridiculous amounts they pay over the counters and hours spent in queues in the banking hall to get their hands on the new notes. The masses are made once again to bear the brunt of this development. To make matters worse for Nigerians, mobile banking apps and USSD services are now even more unreliable and unstable, denying many Nigerians access to their funds. All these painful struggles to live spur the question, is Nigeria truly ready to become cashless? Yes! Cashless, a journey which began in 2012.
POS receipts bearing “Declined” have become the new currency in the wallets of many Nigerians. Do they not see? Do they not hear? Don’t the cry of the masses echo in their ears? How did we get here? How are we using the Naira to purchase Naira in our own country? We’ve witnessed the rise and fall of the Naira against other currencies, especially the US Dollar, but never have we imagined that a Naira-to-Naira exchange would one day come and bite hard at our flesh. Even with the deadline extension for the swap of the old notes with the new notes, the queues at the bank halls and ATMs have stayed the same. Most Nigerians saw these newly redesigned notes, especially the N200 and N500 denominations, for the first time, a few days after January 31, 2023, deadline since its launch on 15th December 2022.
The cause of the Naira shortage has been widely debated with pointed fingers at the presidency, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), commercial banks and bank managers. Reports emerged that a government agency arrested some bank managers for hoarding huge sums of the new notes. The CBN Governor, Godwin Emefiele, insisted that the redesign of the Naira is for the greater good, as well as a way to checkmate the rate of inflation and ascertain a seamless transition into a full-blown cashless economy. However, this seems to be a voyage on troubled waters conveyed by the vessel of HARDSHIP. An example of good policies with chaotic consequences.
The presidency applauded the redesign policy as a step in the right direction. They claim it is also a measure to clip the wings of vote buyers and gullible electoral candidates. But, punishing the common person to checkmate the greed of the political elites is definitely inhumane. If Bola Ahmed Tinubu, a national leader of the ruling party, and the presidential flag-bearer of the All Progressive Congress (APC), could fault the leadership and policies of the incumbent president, at his public rallies, and the likes of Elrufai, a sitting APC governor of Kaduna could allude the failures in the country to some cabals in the Aso Rock; then there is something wrong somewhere.
Who is pulling the strings of these hardships? Is it the President? Or the CBN Governor, or are Nigerian being subjected to hardship because of a suspected elite few who might be disempowered in the elections as a result of all these? Who is behind these tunes of hardship being played `by Nigeria’s piper?
I dare say, in the words of former presidential aide, Sir Reuben Abati in his recent ThisDay article published on 7th February 2023. “The minimum President Muhammadu Buhari is obliged to do is to leave the country as he met it – a civilian democracy, even if badly wounded”.
     • Hilda Chikelue wrote from Port Harcourt
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