Nigerians Still Facing Effect Of Naira Scarcity

 

As of the end of last year, Nigerians still face a scarcity of naira which is affecting the growth of the country.

Through the Central Bank of Nigeria redesigning the naira, the economic growth of the country is been affected, and most citizen experience scarcity.

According to the report, what bring about the shortage and reduction of money, was the withdrawal of old notes in January with a lot of queues in banks this bring about a lack of new naira notes.

The scarcity of money has affected the standard of living, and economy in Nigeria.

 Point of sales(POS), in Nigeria, has gained a lot during the cashless policy in the country.

 According to the report, money is available at the automated teller machine(ATM), but most citizens prefer the use of  Pos for quick services.

“PoS business in Nigeria is not just for making payments and transfers. You can use it for Airtel recharge, utility service payments, and other taxes,” Deborah Oni, a PoS operator, said, disclosing that more people make transfers now than withdrawing.

Speaking on Deborah's statement, a citizen who can't endure the queue in the bank there is a banking service at the Pos agent.

In Amuwo-Odofin's local government where Deborah did her Pos sale she charge 3k  for 10 thousand, then she hope on a woman in her neighborhood for money, during cash policy.

“I now charge N200 for N10, 000 and sometimes the charges depend on the customer. If it’s someone that usually patronizes me, the charges are moderate,” she said.

According to the report, a woman of four children then pays 1k to collect 10 thousand. She can't get to the bank due to the queue since the bank is now giving out money.

“I have not been there since o,” she said.

According to Benjamin, he prefers using Pos with the charges require than using the automated teller machine under the hot sun.

“I see people queue in front of the ATM as early as 7 am and wonder if it is that they don’t have work to do or something. How will I stand under the sun for hours waiting to withdraw money and then the ATM will still not pay me?”

She further speaks that, since the Supreme Court showed concern in the second month, the banking hall transaction is worse than using the automated teller machine.

According to Ifeanyi, he does more transfers for customers since the cashless policy of the CBN.

“Since the cashless policy started, getting physical cash has been a huge challenge for many of us operating PoS. However, I do more transfers for customers now since I don’t have cash for withdrawal services,” Ifeanyi said.

“I prefer doing transfers with my phone, said Kenneth Orusi, a journalist, while Frank Kachi, a civil servant said he prefers going to the bank for cash transactions as there are no more queues in the banks for two weeks running.

“Although the operators in the heat of the naira crisis charged as high as N3,000 to N4,000 for N10,000, we expect that now that naira notes are available in the banks, they should revert to charging N100 for cash transactions between N1,000 to N5,000; and N200 for the transaction of N6,000 to N10,000.

Concerning Doris' statement, it is not Po's fault for collecting expensive changes, they are also charged in a high way.

“Last week, we charged N1,000 for N10,000 because naira notes were still scarce though banks complied with the Federal Government and Central Bank policy to dispense money to customers.

“But this week, we reduced the charges from N1,000 to N500 now that there are more naira notes in circulation. We can only come down to N200 if tariffs decrease,” she said.

According to Augusta Eghosasere, a Benin resident, said: “We still gather in Automated Teller Machines (ATM) to withdraw cash. When will this end? You don’t expect me to pay over N1,000 to the PoS operators before I can get N10,000 when I am just a newspaper vendor with a meager wage.

“After putting us in this condition, they no longer care if we have access to cash or not. No leader in other climes, especially developed countries, will treat his or her citizens the way we are being treated. Our leaders believe they can do what they like at the expense of those who put them in power.”

Speaking on Amaku's statement, the money charge on Pos is high and expensive.

“I went to the bank but they told me I can only withdraw N10,000 from the counter. So, since I needed more than that amount to carry on with my business, I decided to patronize the PoS operators, who we now look up to as our saviors.

“Sadly, I was told by the operator that they will charge me N100 per N10,000. I had no choice but to always do business with them since the commercial banking institutions we relied on have failed to execute their tasks diligently.

“The stress is still on with us despite what the authorities are saying. And, to a large extent, there is still unavailability of cash to the masses and that’s why you see the queue out there on ATMs and the counter,” Amaku said.

According to Yakubu, he said, “The majority of those who queue at the bank are PoS operators. I was in the bank yesterday and was paid N20,000. The PoS charges vary, some have reduced theirs while the majority still maintains the old rate. Some collect N150 for N2000 while others collect N200 for N2,000. The business is now like pure water as everybody has now ventured into it.”

Godwin Igho, a barber, urged the government and those in charge of managing the operations of the Central Bank of Nigeria to pay out money to commercial banks that will reduce suffering and poverty.

According to Funke Ajayi, also complained the business is not moving like before.

“Yes, I can confirm to you that business is going down. It is no longer booming. We are gradually returning to the point where we were before Emefiele came up with the policy. The majority of those who patronize us now are those who do not have the patience to go queue at the banks’ ATMs or inside the banking halls,” she said.