Category: Opinion

Naira note redesign and currency management in Nigeria

 Nigeria became a Republic state in 1963 and in 1999 Nigeria officially became a democratic state.

 As of 2022, Nigeria has enjoyed 23 years of democracy as a system of government which implies that laws, policies, leadership, and major undertakings of Nigeria are directly or indirectly decided by the people.

  As a country practicing democracy the Nigerian government is supposed to prevent rules by autocrats, guarantee fundamental human rights, Allow for a relatively high level of political equality, and better foster human development which should be evident by certain Indicators such as health and education, provide more prosperity for citizens and ensure a broader range of personal freedom.

 Among the mentioned roles and benefits for a Democratic state, the Nigerian government has demonstrated underperformance in education, Health, economy, and security.

Recently, the underperformance of the Nigerian government has been evident as seen in the public universities’ closure for 8 months which has stopped the public universities from functioning, the increase in the currency exchange rate to about 100% Increase in the naira to the dollar exchange rate which indicates economic recession, high levels of Insecurity which has stopped businesses and affecting citizens individual performance, among others.

 Amid the high levels of intervention needed in the above-mentioned areas in Nigeria, the governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria has announced the finalized arrangement for the naira note redesign in which the new naira note will begin circulation on December 15th, 2022.

 According to the CBN governor, Mr. Godwin this exercise will affect the highest denominations including 200, 500, and 1000 naira notes.

 Reasons and benefits of the Naira note redesign according to the CBN governor 

Why the Naira Note Redesign

  1. Significant holding of the banknotes by the members of the public. With over 85% of currency in circulation being outside the vault of commercial banks.  On December,7th 2015, the total money in circulation was 1.7 trillion which has increased to 3.23 trillion nairas as of September 2022 with 2.7 trillion outside the vault of the banks.
  2. A high shortage of clean and feed bank notes is leading to a negative perception of the CBN and increasing financial stability.
  3. Increased rate of counterfeiting the naira notes as evidenced by several securireportsort 

Benefit Of The Naira Redesign

  1. Ensure strong and effective legal tender according to CBN Act 2007
  2. Encourage a cashless economy as it will complement the maintenance of the E-naira
  3. Drizzle in currency outside the bank system into the bank system
  4. Reducing the prevailing levels of insecurity in the country including terrorism and kidnapping.

By the hierarchy of needs in Nigeria is currency redesigning a top priority? 

The bases for the naira note redesign are not in alignment with the needs of the citizens of Nigeria as the naira redesign is going to expose Nigeria to a high risk of inflation and recession. Again, with the budget deficits hitting extreme figures as high as 11 trillion naira, there is no way the Naira notes redesign a means of proffering solutions to Nigeria’s challenges. 

Other stakeholders have claimed that the naira note redesign is a tool for regulating campaign financing given the 2023 election which will contribute to increasing the chances of free and fair elections by reducing the rate of vote buying and improving security. This claim is not valid as the EFCC is responsible for regulating campaign financing in Nigeria.

The CBN governor has not given any real benefit that coincides with the economic growth and development of Nigeria and all the mentioned reasons have no positive impact on the citizens which calls for two questions

  1. Is Nigeria as a democratic state practicing democracy?
  2. Is the naira note redesign another resource mismanagement strategy? 

Disadvantages of the Naira redesign

  • Securing more budget deficit
  • Increasing Risk of inflation due to foreign exchange rate
  • Unnecessary panic for small and large business owners

Important economic indicators that concern the Nigerian Economy.

  • Inflation rate
  • Unemployment rate
  • Dept profile
  • GDP growth
  • Foreign reserves
  • Exchange rate
  • Promoting a free market economy

 Dedicating real attention to policies that positively impact this indicator is the way forward for the Nigerian economy. The naira note redesign has more probability of generating a negative impact on some of the indicators than generating any positive effect.

Cheetahs Policy Institute

Walk to be free…

 

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Nigerians are starving Nigerians; World Capital of Poverty.

The past four weeks in Nigeria has been particularly challenging for citizens of Nigeria, home and abroad. From Nigeria being 60 and still experiencing major setbacks to #EndSars protest to Lekki Tollgate Massacre. Except you live in a pineapple under the sea, you’ll know that the recent news pervading the country is that of supposed citizens breaking into warehouses across the country in search of palliatives.

Let me take you a while back to the extreme period of the emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic in Nigeria. In March 2020, Nigeria experienced her grand reception of the pandemic, which necessitated major shut down of monetary establishments, educational sectors, sports and leisure alike, across the country.

However, to tackle the situation effectively, an organization was established on 26th March 2020. This organization, Coalition Against COVID-19, was established as a private-sector task force in partnership with the Federal Government, Nigeria Center for Disease Control (NCDC), and also the World Health Organization (WHO), with the aim of combating COVID-19 in Nigeria. This task force was established to commensurate the effort of the Federal Government by providing and equipping medical facilities within the 6 geo-political zones in Nigeria, pull resources across industries to supply funding and advocacy through an aggressive awareness drive.

In August, CACOVID announced the kick-off of a national wide food palliative distribution, which was worth an estimate of #23billion.

However, the government didn’t commence the distribution immediately, as they were expecting a supposedly collective go-ahead from the top office of the organization in Abuja, before proceeding with the distribution.

After the protest was hijacked by hoodlums across the country, the government of some major States declared a state of curfew in a bid to make sure peace and orderliness. This was the process where people began to loot warehouses where the said palliatives were stored.

On the 20th of October 2020, Lagos witnessed the main break-in after people razed the warehouse to the bottom and carted away all items. This was followed by looting in other states like Lokoja, Osun, Port Harcourt, Adamawa, and Kaduna. With a number of these lootings happening in the NAFADA office in Kaduna as an example and State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA) a fertilizer and chemical factory in Ado Ekiti.

Now, watching how the peaceful protest turned out yielding no result, are these looting justifiable or not? Is it right for the government to hoard these items until this period when it could have served its Nobel cause at the inception of its provision? These and lots more are questions running through a lot of minds requesting answers. However, it is worthy of mention that in the midst of individuals trying to acquire what belongs to them as it were, a lot of innocent people have had their businesses vandalized and destroyed within the space of 1-week thanks to lootings. As they have been reports of hoodlums breaking into shops, stores, marts, and private warehouses of innocent citizens carting away their goods. Who is actually behind it? That’s a question we can’t answer as well.

Image by: Omotayo Tajudeen

It is a known fact that Nigerians are accustomed to survival through hardship. This however does not justify the reality that Nigerians are starving. And the refusal to effectively attend to this plight led to multiple economic backlashes on the government and innocent citizens as well. Who’s fault will this be? The conversation should start now and it should definitely birth the change we clamor for, until we are all free, No one is.

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The welfare of the state

On the other hand, organizations have the need for integrating in IT departments new technologies often using cloud services and other ways of direct access to the web. This pressure for IT departments to give…

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