The naira redesign of N200, N500, and N1000, including fuel scarcity, has caused untold hardship for Nigerians leading to protests across parts of the country. Many Nigerian citizens have been lamenting due to the inability to get fuel at the filling stations and access the new naira notes from the commercial banks in Nigeria. This has affected socioeconomic activities within the country.
Furthermore, many individuals have been struggling to withdraw some money to buy foodstuff and other valuable items for their loved ones. But it seems all their efforts ended in futility. This is due to the non-availability of cash. To worsen it all, most traders hardly accept cash transfers due to network problems.
According to https://guardian.ng/news/group-condemns-suffering-caused-by-naira-fuel-scarcity/, a socialist platform has condemned the untold hardship that Nigerians are going through due to President Muhammadu Buhari's anti-policies. The organization stressed further that week after week, the citizens have been queuing to buy fuel and withdraw money from the bank. Yet, many people ended up not getting the fuel and withdrawing their money. The body queried, what is Nigeria gradually turning into?
The Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (Godwin Emefiele) issued a directive that from 31st of January 2023, the old notes of N200, N500, and N1000 seized to be legal tender. As a result of this, some prominent Nigerians appealed to the apex bank to extend the deadline, so that the citizens could deposit the old naira notes in exchange for the new currency notes. This situation led the CBN governor to give additional ten days window of opportunity to return the old naira notes to commercial banks. But the supreme court has restrained CBN from implementing the deadline for old naira notes.
As it stands now, there are not enough new naira notes in circulation. However, many POS operators who were opportune to have gotten the new naira notes have made enough profit from it. Some POS owners charged N100, N200, and N500 for withdrawing a certain amount. Customers who withdraw N10,000 can be surcharged N1000 per transaction. A few of them charged N200 per N1000. But the dubious ones charged N500 per N1000.
The question is, what do people gain in allowing others to suffer? Recently, Some bank managers were whisked away by the EFCC officials for hoarding the new naira notes in their custody. This is an act of wickedness. As it is now, there is a high cost of living and low patronage. The scarcity of the new naira notes has crippled some businesses and even put many families in hardship. This is due to the cashless policy introduced by the federal government of Nigeria. Meanwhile, the APC government led by Muhammadu Buhari failed to look at the timing, implications, and measures before implementing this cashless policy.
On the other hand, many motorists usually go to filling stations as early as 3 am to queue up and buy fuel. Some of them may end up not getting the fuel due to non-availability. There have been cases where some filling station owners sell above the government's official rate. And the cost of transportation has been on the high side. The federal government has been paying huge amounts of money for fuel subsidies. Yet, the citizens cannot get petroleum products at a subsidized rate. What a shame! It seems the government has been helpless and confused in finding a last solution to this lingering shortage of new naira notes and fuel scarcity.
Finally, I am using this medium to appeal to the CBN governor and NNPC management to address the above issues.
Kadiri Saliu,
Nigeria.
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