President Muhammadu Buhari’s last Thursday national broadcast on the state of the nation occasioned by the new naira swap policy was supposed to bring succour to the mass of the people.
Unfortunately, the speech was short of the soothing words that could relieve the pains being experienced by Nigerians at this critical time.
Buhari’s speech was not convincing enough as it truly lost touch with the reality of the present situation in the country.
For the past two weeks, the naira swap policy has created artificial scarcity of the naira which has also affected the entire country.
The new policy of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to redesign the old naira notes came with a lot of pain.
And the CBN was adamant, saying there was no going back on the deadline for the swapping of naira notes.
There had been serious controversy over the deadline, with some state governors dragging the apex bank to the Supreme Court, but the CBN stuck to its guns, maintaining that the deadline was sacrosanct.
Nigerians have been facing difficult moment getting money from the bank, with long queues and service failures becoming the normal tradition of all the banks.
Go to the markets and see the pains Nigerians experience daily to survive the difficult situation.
Visit the hospitals and see how people are dying.
Movements are stalled as excruciating pains and suffering enveloped the minds of the mass of the people.
We can feel the pains across the country. No money, no fuel, nothing is working as everything came to a standstill.
In Nigeria today, each day brings in its wake, different stories about how it has been difficult for Nigerians to live and survive in this country.
When banks across the country refused to collect the old naira notes, the Point of Sales (POS) operators are making a lot of money selling new naira notes at very exorbitant rates.
Sadly, Nigeria is a peculiar nation where naira notes are being sold and traded publicly with nobody blinking an eye.
Banks are being shut down for fear of attacks. Those that are in dire need of cash are always in trouble as the POS operators have become the Lord of Cash Exchange.
There are unconfirmed reports now that banks have been directed to shut down across the nation as from Monday to avoid further attacks.
Where in the world is shutting of banks remains the best option to avoid votes buying when elections is just five days away?
How many of us- the Nigerian electorate own a bank? Or are top shareholders of banks?
None of us owns a bank, we are not shareholders in any of the banks.
So, it is evident that the scarcity of the naira was a grand conspiracy against Nigeria and Nigerians.
Recently, there had been pockets of crisis and protests in Lagos, Ogun, Ondo, Ibadan and Edo among others.
I don’t know whether those protests were sponsored or not, but all I know is that the protests portend grave danger to the political milieu.
The protests are not only bad signal of a confused CBN governor that had failed to understand the import of implementing a policy that is at variance with the reality of the present situation in the country, it is also a reflection of a leadership failure which has always been the bane of Nigeria since independence in 1960.
At the outset, the cashless policy was meant to save the ailing economy and recover it from impending collapse.
Rather than becoming a blessing, the naira swap has turned out to be a curse as Nigerians go through hardship to get out of this difficult moment.
For instance, the General Overseer of the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG), Pastor Enoch Adeboye, went spiritual recently during one of the church’s weekly programmes, when he prayed and sought favour from God to save Nigeria from famine and acute hunger.
The respected man of God knew how it feels to face a difficult time as we face currently in Nigeria.
Also, the late Afrobeat legend, Fela Anikulapo Kuti said long time ago that Nigerians were in a situation where they were suffering and smiling.
Several decades after Fela’s song, Nigeria is still suffering and smiling.
The CBN policy has set Nigeria on fire and there have been protests everywhere.
As the presidential election draws nearer, dark cloud is all over Nigeria and nobody is spared.
But I think there is a need for us to save this country from this looming danger.
The present pains spreading across the country have left us confused that Nigerians are wondering whether there are gains in this naira swap policy.
I am not an economist, however, analysing Buhari’s speech, I think the timing and the implementation of the naira swap policy was more political than it was meant to save the ailing economy. That is why the policy has generated a lot of controversies across the country.
In his national broadcast last week, President Muhammadu Buhari said the new naira swap was to sustain and boost the economy, enhance the fight against corruption and sustain the gains in the fight against terrorism and insecurity which has, undoubtedly,been impacted by several internal and external factors.
Buhari expressed his sympathy over the difficulties being experienced through the implementation of new monetary policies, which he said was to boost the economy and tightening the loopholes associated with money laundering.
While retaining the old N200 notes denomination as a legal tender for a period of 60 days, President Buhari reassured Nigerians that
the policy would help in boosting Nigeria’s economy, enhancing security and blockage of leakages associated with illicit financial flows.
He admitted also that the situation was hitting hard on ordinary Nigerian citizens, but stated also that a few critical points on the policy decision had made it pertinent for his administration to restore the Nigerian economy.
He highlighted the need to restore the statutory ability of the CBN to keep a firm control over money in circulation.
Buhari also made prominent mention of the situation in 2015, when he assumed power, adding that the currency-in-circulation then was only N1.4 trillion.
But regretting that the proportion of currency outside banks then grew from 78% in 2015 to 85% in 2022.
His words: “As of October 2022, the currency in circulation had risen to N3.23 trillion; out of which only N500 billion was within the Banking System, while N2.7 trillion remained permanently outside the system; thereby, distorting the financial policy and efficient management of inflation;
“The huge volume of bank notes outside the banking system has proven to be practically unavailable for economic activities and by implication, retard the attainment of potential economic growth;
“Economic growth projections make it imperative for government to aim at expanding financial inclusion in the country by reducing the number of the unbanked population. And given the prevailing security situation across the country, which keeps improving, it also becomes compelling for government to deepen its support for security agencies to combat banditry and ransom-taking in Nigeria. Notwithstanding the initial setbacks experienced, the evaluation/feedback mechanism set up has revealed that gains have emerged from the policy initiative.
“I have been reliably informed that since the commencement of this programme, about N2.1 trillion out of the banknotes previously held outside the banking system, had been successfully retrieved.
“This represents about 80% of such funds in the short to medium and long terms. Therefore, it is expected that there would be a strengthening of our macro economic parameters, reduction of broad money supply leading to a deceleration of the velocity of money in the economy which should result in less pressures on domestic prices, lowering of Inflation as a result of the accompanying decline in money supply that will slow the pace of inflation and finally collapse of illegal economic activities which would help to stem corruption and acquisition of money through illegal ways”.
To sum it up, all the issues raised as reasons for the naira swap policy are great projections, but it is sad that the timing as well as the implementation of the policy have been the major factor that has set Nigerians against Emefiele and the Buhari administration.
Nigerians usually find it difficult to believe that the policy had any economic benefits.
Many considered it as a calculated political ploy to thwart the election.
The CBN governor has also lost the respect of the people.
Emefiele had allowed his personal interest and ambition to conflict with his duties and responsibilities of his office as the CBN boss.
In Nigeria’s history, none of his predecessors had been under serious attacks like what he is currently facing with the policy.
Nigerians blamed the CBN governor for the sordid implementation of the naira redesign policy.
For instance, a former member of the House of Representatives’ Committees on Justice and human rights, Hon.Kayode Oladele while reacting to the present situation, argued that the CBN governor had violated the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Act, the Code of Conduct for Public Officers in the Fifth Schedule to the 1999 Constitution (as amended) as well as the Code of Conduct Bureau and Tribunal Act respectively by not only failing to devote the whole of his time to the service of the Bank and engaging in activities that conflict with or distract him from his full time duties as the CBN Governor, but also by putting himself in a position where his personal interest as a former presidential aspirant of a political party conflicts with his public duties and responsibilities.
Oladele stated further that Emefiele had dug his grave by throwing himself in the political environment and thus put himself in the mucky water by tainting the policy with political implications and complications.
By his submission, it is clear that the CBN boss is a political stooge and active member of the ruling party.
I am afraid if other agencies like the Economic and Financial Crime Commission (EFCC) and the Independent National Electoral Commission INEC(INEC) and several others would not join actively in becoming members of the ruling APC.
Given the present situation in the country and the extent of pains experienced by Nigerians, I am appealing to the CBN governor to make more new naira notes available in circulation as this is the best way to address the plights of Nigerians over the cash scarcity.
The naira swap policy of the Federal Government and the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) is biting hard on Nigerians despite the fact that part of the objectives of the policy is to recover several billions of money being stashed away by some establishments.
But a situation where Nigerians could not access their money in the banks to buy food and other necessities is not good for the country.
The new naira notes should be made available at the various banks and the dispensing points in order to reduce the sufferings of Nigerians.
*Kehinde Aderemi writes from Lagos.
