By: Liasu Sanni
"We want to redesign the Naira notes to curb
corruption" - President Muhammadu Buhari.
It is no longer
news that the CBN with the approval of the President has made a redesign of
Naira notes and announced that the old 200, 500, and 1000 Naira notes would
stop being a legal tender on 31st of January, 2023, and then extended the
deadline. Part of the objectives of the naira redesign is the adaptation of a cashless policy, which now poses problems in a country with a majority of cash dependable businesses.
Setting a deadline
for depositing old notes has made many Nigerians go stranded due
to cash unavailability. Presently, we see very long queues of people in banks
and ATM machine stands struggling for cash to run day-to-day expenses. With CBN
regulations limiting the output of cash per withdrawal. Even some POS agents
who have the cash to dispense, have now hiked the charges of withdrawal claiming
that it is due to the stress that they themselves go through to get cash for
their small-scale banking services.
These policies sets a bar for its citizens as many Nigerians go through the hectic process of getting cash for their minor day expenses.
Nigeria's
current cashless policy can work but not during this present period of minimal
financial education of many Nigerians, especially the market women, retail shop
owners, local bus drivers, motorcyclists, and other SMEs with whom we
transact daily. The majority of these people have no bank accounts and not many
of them have subscribed to the idea of receiving payments to accounts, with a
larger number of them having a low level of literacy to know how the incoming
system works. A few of them who would not mind receiving payments into accounts
have been discouraged by financial bank networks due to transfer downtimes,
delayed alert notifications, and other related problems. This leaves most Nigerians with no choice
but to stick with cash payments to purchase items or pay for services.
Nigeria's new cashless policy and Naira redesign have caused more harm than good in just a few months of implementation and poses a threat to Nigerians. Most Nigerians have no choice but to continue in the tedious struggle for cash on a daily basis.
It has been recorded in the last few weeks that banks in some parts of the country are being mobbed by angry protesters who claim banks do not put out enough cash for withdrawals. This has led to vandalizing of ATM machines, destruction of bank properties, which forced some bank branches to shut down operations.
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In conclusion,
the new cashless policy in my own view has to be a gradual development in which
the government would need to empower and enlighten the masses on the need to
adapt to its policies and also, the need for the financing banks to improve
digital banking systems. These processes would make wireless transfers and the
cashless policy more convenient to use.
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