‘Sapa’, a popular slang in Nigeria, means ‘sudden absence of purchasing ability’. That is what many Nigerians are facing due to the failed naira redesign policy of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
Now that the apex bank has reluctantly directed deposit money banks (DBMs) to begin disbursing and receiving old naira notes in line with the ruling of the Supreme Court, what next?
Development Diaries reports that in October 2022, the CBN announced its plans to redesign the naira in the variation of N200, N500 and N1,000.
The CBN went ahead to give reasons why it needed to carry out the naira redesign process. The bank said it was redesigning the banknotes in order to have control of the currency in circulation, manage inflation, as well as tackle counterfeiting; and that the move would also curb ransom payments to kidnappers and terrorists.
Before the implementation of the policy, concerns about its impact on Nigeria’s shaky economy and the common man, as well as how well did the CBN prepare Nigerians for the move were raised.
Apparently, those questions were not addressed, as the only thing Nigerians heard from the CBN Governor, Godwin Emefiele, was that he had the backing of President Muhammadu Buhari on the redesign move.
How policy caused ‘sapa’, chaos
As the CBN mopped up old naira notes from circulation, getting the new notes became difficult and the scarcity of new notes disrupted business activities in markets, restaurants, banks, and major sales outlets across Nigeria.
As it became increasingly difficult to get cash from commercial banks, point of sale (PoS) transaction charges increased to 400 percent in many Nigerian cities.
The chaos caused by the policy frustrated efforts by many Nigerians operating in the informal sector, which is largely dependent on cash.
Nigerians lamented their inability to withdraw their hard-earned money from their bank accounts, while there were also allegations of hoarding on the part of commercial banks.
The mounting frustrations led to angry customers vandalising bank properties and burning bank buildings due to their inability to get cash from the banks’ ATMs.
There were reports, too, of persons killed as violent protests erupted in Edo, Oyo, Delta, Kwara, Ondo, Benue and Akwa Ibom states.
Also, there were reports of people slumping in banking halls as a result of having spent endless hours queueing to get their monies; many could not pay for hospital bills for their sick relatives in hospitals all due to an imposed cash crunch.
Buhari’s defence of policy
President Muhammadu Buhari had argued that the policy was not meant to target innocent citizens but corrupt persons and terror financiers hoarding illicit monies.
How then has the policy addressed terror financing, as videos of kidnappers being in possession of the new notes surfaced online?
The CBN governor also said the policy was meant to curb vote buying, but there were also reports of various sums of money discovered for vote buying in the build-up to the February 25 presidential and National Assembly elections.
The CBN accused politicians of mopping up the cash meant for circulation, but at the end of the day, no one was prosecuted. The majority of the masses were at the receiving end of the whole mess, suffering as a result of bad policy implementation.
Our take
President Buhari and the CBN governor had sworn to always discharge their duties in the interest of the sovereignty, integrity, solidarity, well-being and prosperity of the country while vowing to respect the country’s constitution.
However, their silence on the ruling of the Supreme Court for over one week indicated their disregard for the rule of law in a democratic setting.
Development Diaries believes that President Buhari, who approved the CBN policy, should take responsibility for its failure and apologise to Nigerians for the avoidable hardship they are facing.
We also call for the immediate resignation of the CBN governor for bringing untold hardship to Nigerians, getting banks and their workers attacked, and triggering protests with the policy.
We ask, too, that the CBN collaborates with anti-graft agencies to monitor banks and ensure they comply with the Supreme Court judgment.
Finally, we urge that going forward, policies like this should be properly thought through and all stakeholders carried along from the formulation stage. This would ensure that a policy is not anti-people before it is implemented.
