There aren’t enough new Naira notes to buy majority of the votes of the masses and this might give us a chance at a fair election. Mrs O, in an exclusive interview with incognito, revealed that POS agents that sell the new Naira note, currently sell 30,000 Naira with a service fee of 8,000 Naira. This is despicable and shouldn’t be the case but it’s our reality, people spend hours waiting to get into banks to withdraw the new Naira note and then charge an outrageous fee to resell.
The redesign of the Nigerian Naira may lead to an unnecessary surge in inflation, which will negatively impact the buying power of the common person. With the printing of new Naira notes, there will be an influx of money into circulation, leading to an increase in demand for goods and services. This increased demand and the limited supply of goods and services, will lead to price increment, making it more difficult for those living below the poverty line to afford basic necessities.
This will also affect those who have saved up money in the old Naira notes, their savings will be worth less if they don’t have it paid into their bank account by the proposed deadline set by the CBN. We’re far away from being a cashless economy, so a policy like this should not have such a tight knit cage. The common person who needs to withdraw 1000 Naira is having to pay 400 Naira in fees, due to scarcity and greed.
While the redesign of the Nigerian Naira may have some benefits like curbing counterfeiting and reducing the majority of vote buying in the upcoming elections, there can be policies in place to mitigate the adverse effects on the common person, things like increasing social welfare programs and providing financial assistance to support those who may be most affected by the redesign.
