How realistic is CBN deadline on the new notes?

 

 

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) had announced that the old N200, N500 and N1,000 bank notes would cease to be legal tender by January 31, 2023. However, many Nigerians have expressed reservation over the deadline given challenges in accessing the new notes. PAUL OKAH speaks with a cross section of Nigerians on their take on the deadline.

Deadline unrealistic

The January 31, 2023, deadline by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) for the new notes to cease to be legal tender is not realistic. This is because the new notes are not much in circulation as many would have expected.

The old notes are still being given to customers at bank counter. If you go to the ATM, you will see that the machines are still dispensing old notes.

In fact, I was at the bank yesterday and I was surprised I was given old notes. The N100,000 I withdrew were all in old bills of N500 and N1,000. When I asked the bank teller for new notes, she told me bluntly that they have not been given much new notes by the CBN.

So, if the CBN has not given new notes to the banks, how then can we get it? We can’t walk up to CBN and demand for new notes. We can only get the new notes from commercial banks.

It follows that if we can’t get the notes from banks then we will keep circulating the old notes to our customers. How will people get the notes if they are not available? There are too many questions and only the CBN can provide the answers.

Today is January 11 and I have not seen the new notes. I know for a fact that the CBN will shift the deadline. It is just a matter of logic because the time frame for old notes to cease to be legal tender is so short.

Mr Adamu AbdulMalik, engineer

More sensitisation needed

There is no doubt that the deadline of January 31 is unrealistic. What is in contention is the ignorance of many Nigerians.

There is great need for the CBN and National Orientation Agency (NOA) to take the sensitisation to the grassroots. The people that should be targeted are petty traders, artisans, and those in the rural areas. This is because many people are still rejecting the currency, which is not supposed to be so.

In fact, I watched a video where a man was embarrassed for paying for a plate of food using new N1,000 note. The man paid N1,000 for a plate of food he bought and demanded for N200 balance, but immediately the seller saw the new note, she raised the alarm. She accused him of spending foreign currency and called on people around and tore the man’s cloth.

She tore the man’s cloth claiming he wanted to deceive her and pay with an unknown currency. The timely intervention of someone who confirmed the money saved the man from more embarrassment as many people at the scene were not even aware of the new naira note.

Therefore, traders and other Nigerians should be educated on how to identify fake notes, using the new and the old notes. The CBN should also make it impossible for the notes not to be counterfeited. In many countries of the world, it takes few years to change a currency note design. In our own case, what we had was basically over 20 years of having the same design of notes. Over that period, what it did to us was to create avenue for some people to master the act of counterfeiting the notes.

So, if currency notes stay too long in the system, there is tendency that people who counterfeit make a lot of efforts to produce the same notes. So, that is why there is need to change our notes regularly, of course with sensitisation and public enlightenment by the federal government.

Nathaniel Chukwu, civil servant

Deadline will cause major economic problems

The CBN deadline on new notes is not realistic. The notes are not readily available. It would be asking for problems if the old notes are not acceptable from next month. Since I started running my POS business, I have only received N20,000 of the new notes from customers. It was N1,000 notes from a customer who came to deposit N20,000. That was my first time of seeing or even touching the new notes.

I didn’t like it at first. I didn’t even see the need for the change of the notes, because the old notes are better. At first, I tried hoarding the notes, but it was not possible because I will eventually give them out.

What I did was to include N1,000 new note in every withdrawal of N10,000. I will give N9,000 of old notes and N1,000 new note to make it up. It will interest you to note that many customers rejected the new note.

Seriously, we have a problem in this country. If customers are rejecting the new notes, when then do we start using them?

This goes a long way to tell you that the CBN needs to shift the deadline otherwise we will have major economic problems in this country as many people will take a while to accept the new notes.

Francis Nzak, POS operator

Deadline won’t work

I have been rejecting the new notes from customers who have them. It looks so strange and light. There is every tendency that it will be counterfeited by fraudsters in a matter of days. Let us tell ourselves the truth, there was really no need for them to have changed the currency if not for the tendency to waste money by officials.

I will only start accepting the new notes when they become popular and much in use. My action was formed when I initially accepted N5,000 in new N1, 000 notes and wanted to buy items with them, but my customer rejected them.

I am a petty trader and don’t need my money to be tied up somewhere, so I had to desist from collecting the new notes from customers.

As for the deadline by the CBN, I want to tell you that it won’t work. At least, the old notes will be in circulation till half of this year, if not the end of this year. The January deadline I understand is just the initial gragra by the federal government.

Which magic do they want to perform? There is hardly anyone accepting the new notes and you are talking about the old notes ceasing to exist by the end of this month.

Well, we will watch and see, but I can confidently tell you that the deadline will be extended for obvious reasons. This is Nigeria where nothing works and this one is dead on arrival.

Regina Bolaji, trader

CBN means business, it’ll work

The CBN means business with the implementation of the new naira notes. I don’t see why the January 31 deadline is not realistic. It will be realistic because it is nearly 20 years since the currency was last changed.

To tell you that the CBN means business, I read in the papers few days ago that the CBN has started monitoring commercial banks to ensure that they comply with the directive of loading the redesigned naira notes in their ATMs.

The CBN Director, Currency Operations, Mr Ahmed Umar, said in the report during the training session for NOA State Directors that the apex bank’s management has mandated commercial banks to stop putting old notes in their ATMs.

He said there is serialisation of the policy that banks can put either N1,000, N500 or N200 note, whichever the denomination they have or combination of any of those notes. He said they have penalty for non compliance.

Therefore, with the efforts by the CBN, I don’t see why Nigerians will continue transacting with old notes.

My only appeal to CBN is to ensure it walks the talk. They must monitor compliance by banks so that their efforts will not be sabotaged.