Topic: Feasibility of January 1st deadline for old note usage and it implications. (Read 77 times)

The transition of the new naira note in Nigeria came as a shock to a lot of persons in Nigeria hence causing the uprise of Point of sale machines (POS).

This did not only cause the uprise of the machines but it brought about citizens buying their own currencies.
In all Nigerians became used to this fact and decided to follow the evolving nature of the currency and also accept the fate of paying double the POS charges  We also accepted that the use of the old naira notes is now a norm and would not be withdrawn by the Central Bank of Nigeria. Back to the question of how many Nigerians are aware of this deadline?
Well I would say a lot of Nigerians are oblivious of this deadline because we have accepted the use of the old naira and the new naira currency note together. The market women and petty traders do not have an idea of this new order by the house of assembly and a proper announcement should be done early enough to avoid the rush as it was before.

I just wonder why we’re making things difficult for ourselves. Why redesigning of the Naira in the first place? What was wrong with the old Naira. Politicians don’t have a clear idea of how to run a country,a complex country like this. If they withdraw the old Naira note without adequate supply of the new currency,it will trigger another hardship with the ones we’re all facing. For me they should desist from such act,after all it’s our money.

I don't personally see the viability of the January deadline given to stop the use of the old naira noted because with the way things are going now this whole currency saga has turned political so there's a political influence and interest that has come to play, the reason is that there are allot of old notes that are still being kept by these politicians and anything that will warrant the changing of these naira Notes will make politicians to lose billions of naira that they have stolen from the society so allot of pressure is being mounted by these politicians to see that the policy don't see the light of the day

It is nice they came up publicly to make known their stand otherwise, this would have resulted to another panic in the nation. However, they stated it that this exercise has been put on hold indefinitely which means that they might not really need to do anything about it for the time been and everything still stands and remains status quo.

I think they should gradually begin take the step of removing the old naira note in circulation. The CBN should as a matter of fact release the new note to banks while they begin a gradual phase off of the old note without the masses taking note of it. Whenever there is deposit at the bank, the make sure to take the old note and give out the new note upon withdrawal. By so doing, the old note would be removed from circulation without any notice.

There is a current Press Release from the Central Bank Of Nigeria telling Nigerians to disregard this rumor circulating all over social media since yesterday after the House of Representatives called on the attention of the CBN. Because I'm sure there is no Nigerians who wouldn't say he/she wasn't directly or indirectly affected by this policy last time our old Naira notes were said to cease been legal tender, and as such that's one experience no Nigerian will ever wish to encounter in the future again, most especially in this current economic hardship where the price of goods and services have skyrocketed to over 200%.

The question supposed be, How many of the new currency de in circulation and how many more we de expect when fit de enough to reach everybody within the next two months such that wetin we been face the last time no go happen again?

This na total misplacement of priority and na the highest form of wickedness be this if them allow this thing become a problem for us. Unemployment de choke, fuel de scarce, price of things don de too high, cost of living no even de allow the living breathe and instead of them to think through how them fit take solve one of these problems, na to hard another one join an de there mind? Markers and businesses don already de transition into the cashless policy and no even de reason cash and you say na that one be your problem? Nothing really concern be for this matter as long as businesses go allow me use my transfer buy my things. Na who go de HODL old fiat for house I de pity.

Obviously, this is another fiat scarcity coming up in a short time and possibly into next year. I could remember how terrible the experience was then, the whole nation was in a very tough situation as a result of the useless new currency change policy they brought in then. As it stands now, most Nigerians have forgotten about this deadline and the awareness is not on to remind Nigerians about the deadline of the old currency usage. This reminder campaign should have started last month so that there would be enough time for awareness for people to start depositing it at the bank.

I am curios to ask this question because it is funny that this old currency notes are still distributed by the banks which they should have been in the position to  be collecting the old currency and giving out the new currency note to gradually phase out the old notes in circulation. This exercise would have long been achieved if they had used that method. This country is unorganized and not coordinated, just imagine our national  house beginning to start the deliberation on it now which should be something they should have long given the financial institution ultimatum to gradually withdraw the old notes from circulation as time goes and mandate the CBN to release the new currency gradually to all the banks.

I see this as not to be a major concern and focus of our government current as the economic situation of the country is getting worse everyday. The nation needs policy that would revive the economy, create employment, stabilize our currency and also improve our production industry for the betterment of her citizens. At this point in time our leaders are supposed to be implementing policies that would encourage locally produced goods for exportation and also encourage establishment of industries that would improve the economic reserve of the country and not dragging the country backward. It is unfortunate the crop of lawmakers we have as they are just rubber stamp members with no conscience.

Federal Government should not start this rubbish again. I know how people suffered during cash scarcity last year and I don’t want to repeat that again. I want to believe that this new government will not follow through with the deadline. The CBN governor who proposed this new note is in jail, I don’t think Tinubu’s administration has any plans to completely dispose of the old naira notes.

In 2023, the transition from the old Currency to the new currency came with a lot of effects on people and businesses which resulted in cash scarcity and hikes in transaction fees across the nation. There were speculations that the scarcity and the creation of the new note was a means to curtail the excesses of some politicians who had withdrawn and kept a lot of old notes at home and intends using them to rig the election.

The tough period came and has gone and the old note was allowed to circulate again with another deadline given which was later shifted and now it's on the news that The House of Representatives has called on the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to begin the gradual withdrawal of old N200, N500, and N1,000 notes from circulation ahead of the December 31, 2024 deadline. it posses a lot of questions;

1. How many Nigerian are aware of this deadline?
2. What has been put in place to ensure that we don't experience the similar fate we had in 2023?
3. What's even the whole essence of changing from the old note to the new note when the usage of the old note hasn't had an effect on the economy?
4. Which is more important to work on? our currency devaluation or the need to eradicate the old note?

There are a lot of questions that are begging for answers and truth is that if we go back to the issue of doing away with the old note by the start of the year and fiat scarcity becomes a problem when fuel price is this expensive, we might just be heading into catastrophe.

What's your take on this?
Source:
https://www.vanguardngr.com/2024/10/withdraw-old-notes-before-december-deadline-reps-tell-cbn/