THEY HAVE HIDDEN PLANS - NEW NAIRA NOTES FROM CBN HAVE RECEIVED MIXED REVIEWS

Divergent perspectives on the recently issued new banknotes by the President Muhammadu Buhari administration have been expressed by Nigerians.

The introduction of the new notes into the nation's financial system was announced by the Central Bank of Nigeria, or CBN, on Wednesday.

The CBN chief said that the features of the newly designed notes were in accordance with international best practices and that it was required that the naira be redesigned and reissued every five to eight years.

The bank last updated the naira's appearance in 2014, when it modified the look of just the 100-naira note to mark Nigeria's centennial.

He claims that the 19-year delay in the naira's redesign is regretful and is the result of previous administrations' lack of political determination.

"In the past, I have to confess that attempts by the CBN to redesign and re-issue the naira notes have been resisted. It is only President Muhammadu Buhari that has exhibited the courage to do so," he stated.

Emefiele emphasized that the exercise will become a recurring pattern after five to eight years and that it was the CBN's mission to redesign and re-issue the notes.

Nigeria, meantime, has just started revamping its currency for a number of reason

For instance, the N100, 200, 500, and #1000 banknotes were launched in December 1999, November 2000, April 2001, and October 2005, respectively, in response to the growth in economic activity and to promote an effective payment system.

As part of the economic reforms, the #20 coin was launched on February 28th, 2007, along with the #50, #10, and #5 banknotes, as well as the #1 and 50K coins, which had been reissued in new designs.

Following the excellent performance of the #20 (polymer) banknote, the redesigned #50, #10, and #5 banknotes were switched to polymer substrate on September 30, 2009. As a result, all banknotes of smaller denomination were now printed on a polymer substrate.

Godwin Emefiele, commenting on the development, stated that the introduction of newly designed notes became necessary as a result of the anomalies plaguing Nigeria's financial, monetary, and security sectors.

On December 15, 2022, the new designs will start to circulate.

But Nigerians have responded strongly to the introduction of the new naira banknotes.

Some economic analysts have noted that the revised N200, N500, and N1000 naira notes' security measures have been improved in addition to the change in color.

However, President Buhari and Emefiele were criticized by Omoyele Sowore, the AAC's presidential candidate, for misleading Nigerians by revamping the currency.

Sowore criticized Buhari, claiming that the naira had not changed significantly and that Nigerians had once more been duped.

According to former Nigerian congressman Shehu Sani, the new notes' introduction of a different color was all that changed; "If it's Naira colour, the CBN should have just engaged Snapchat."

According to Professor Abdulmalik Abdulkadir, a prominent lecturer in the Department of Economics at Kaduna State University, the current redesign of banknotes will reduce the amount of public money that persons in positions of authority embezzle.

Prof. Abdulmalik observed that everyone is interested in how to replace the old currency, which may soon disappear, since the new notes have not yet been put into circulation while speaking to journalists in Kaduna on Wednesday.

He claims that certain powerful public employees are afraid to steal from the government since they could be arrested at any time.

Jennifer Adimso said, "I'm surprised that people still believe in this government and their policies. You're talking about preventing politicians from laundering money but that's a lie. Who is Emefiele working for? He is working for the APC. In fact, he is a member of the APC. He was contesting for the APC presidential primary if not for the pressure from Nigerians.

On the streets of Abuja, a few Nigerians spoke with our correspondent and offered their opinions. While some of them think it is an effective approach to prevent politicians from launder money before the general elections in 2023, others think it is a waste of time.

"In fact he went to court to challenge Nigerians against him. He is working for his party and if anybody is planning to launder money, it is APC. You'll see bullion vans parked in the compound of some individuals and no one will question them. I believe they have some politicians they're targeting. They've concluded their plans. These people think way ahead of us. Changing the colours of the N200, N500 and N1000 notes is just another way to distract Nigerians. Nothing more."

David Sam Ade said, "All I can say is that the colour of those banknotes have changed. I'm not an expert to know the security features but all I can tell you is that the change won't contribute anything. Now tell me, will it change the prices of garri, rice, yam, onions and other food items in the market? Buhari and his team are bent on deceiving Nigerians. We can't wait for their tenure to end. People are suffering and all you can do is change the colour of money. It makes no sense to me. The reason why Emefiele is still there as the CBN governor is because he's as clueless as the President himself."

Pastor Jewel Abianso said, "Nigerians should be prayerful. Nigeria is drifting under the current government. See, the redesigning of the naira note may be good to many of us but we may not know the idea behind it. The question is why is it happening now? They said it is to stop money laundering against the election but how do we know the other underlying reasons? When a government has established itself on deceit, it becomes difficult to know when it is taking a good measure that would be beneficial to its people. I believe Nigeria has more significant problems than changing the colour of some currency denominations. Once again, I'll encourage Nigerians to pray hard ahead of the forthcoming elections. Let's pray for change and to have a government we can trust."

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) Chairman, Abdulrasheed Bawa, had previously praised the development as appropriate and appropriate.

He said it was "a well-considered and timely response" to the challenges of currency management.