By Abimbola Ogunnaike
Nigerians have expressed concern over their failure to access the new naira notes for the past few weeks and excruciating agonies they are made to go through as a result of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Naira redesign policy.
Majority of Nigerians who thegazellenews.com interviewed over the agonies they are going through as a result of Naira redesign policy of the Apex Bank, said the situation is becoming worse and worse everyday.
Adebayo Adelakun, residing in Ikotun in Alimosho Local Government Area of Lagos State, lamented that the situation is deteriorating daily, saying “every day we go to banks to withdraw money from our accounts, we end up getting nothing. Banks are always saying there is no enough cash in their vaults. The ones that have are even rationing it to us, saying there is not enough cash to go round for all while we endlessly wait to get it, which is most of the time N5,000. This is very unbearable and painful. We are going through hard times in collecting our own money from the banks. There are uncertainties everywhere as a result of the sad development”.
Sekinat Lawal, a yam seller in Igando area of the State said she the charges POS operators are charging on transactions are killing. “If you go to banks to withdraw money, they will tell you there is no cash. The alternative for me is to patronise POS operator but their charges are very exorbitant.
“I usually pay N3,000 charges on N10,000. I wonder what is happening in Nigeria”.
However, a POS operator, Kehinde Popoola, said that the reason for the high commission was the process of getting the cash from the banks.
“It is not easy to get the cash out of the banks. We go the extra mile to get the money. So, if anyone is not ready, others are ready.
“Everyday I go to bank to source for Naira and my bank will not give me the money I requested for. What the bank usually gives me is not even enough to go round for my customers. It is very sad,” Popoola said.
Meanwhile, traders and some business centres started rejecting the old naira notes on Wednesday, 15 February, 2023. A fish seller in Ipaja market in Lagos State by the name Amira told thegazellenews.com that she has stopped collecting old Naira notes from her customers.
“I have stopped collecting old Naira notes since Monday. Although, rejecting old Naira notes has affected my business, I have no options since banks are also rejecting old Naira notes from our hands. So if the banks are doing this, what stop us from doing the same,” she told thegazellenews.com
She called on the CBN to urgently print more new notes so that the situation will return to normal again. “I am calling on CBN to please give more money to the banks so that the suffering we are going through as a result of scarcity will be a thing of the past,” he said.
