The criminal act of defacing the naira

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2 years ago

In Nigeria, mishandling money is a culture that is so ingrained that it has become normal and constant sensitisation has not in any way changed this habit; even criminalising the act with the CBN Act has not made any difference.

To ensure Nigerians imbibe the culture of maintenance and respect for the naira, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) engaged in a series of public enlightenment campaigns to no avail. Even the National Orientation Agency (NOA) did its best to curb the act but Nigerians have not heeded the call.

The recent threat by the Central Bank of Nigeria to arrest and arraign people who abuse the naira, especially those who spray naira notes at parties and those who habitually deface the national currency before mobile courts, haven’t yielded any results.

The practice is so entrenched that no one is left out of the crime; even members of the business and political elites who usually act as though they are above the law.

Now, the country seems determined to make some people scapegoats as a result of the huge level of abuse and how prevalent these practices have become in recent times especially considering the huge cost of the poor handling of the naira on the nation’s economy as the country is usually burdened by the weight of a large stack of mutilated or dirty currencies that have to be constantly replaced.

And as the nation seems to take the implementation of its laws on naira handling seriously at this period, it is important for people, especially women, to understand what the law says.

Sections 20 and 21 of the CBN Act of 2017 outlaw any action by anyone who hawks, sprays, squeezes, dances on or writes on the naira and provides that perpetrators who are found guilty by the mobile courts should face a jail term of six months with an option of N50,000 fine.

Indeed, Section 21 (3) of CBN Act 2007 says “Spraying of, dancing or matching on the naira or any note issued by CBN during social occasions or otherwise howsoever shall constitute an abuse and defacing of the Naira or such note and shall be punishable under Sub-section 1 of this section.”

It seems that the non-implementation of the law has made people have no regard for it and recently, the arrest of a lady hawking new naira notes on social media caused an uproar with many Nigerians condemning the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the Independent Corrupt Practices and other related offences Commission (ICPC) for leaving politicians to attack alleged struggling Nigerians.

The wanton mutilation and careless handling of Naira notes is indeed a serious infraction that not only affects the economy but poses a health risk; filthy notes in circulation make people vulnerable to ailments like protozoa infections, allergies, dangerous germs, upper and lower respiratory tract infections as well as conjunctivitis, among many others.

And as the CBN and other agencies take serious action on curbing the criminal act of defacing or poorly handling the naira, people should change their orientation before they become victims of the law.

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