Since the presentation of the new currency by the Central Bank of Nigeria governor, Mr. Godwin Emefiele before president Muhammad Buhari and the Federal Executive Council, the CBN governor, and his team have faced a lot of backlashes and harsh criticism from Nigerians over the design of the new currency; basically because of the colour and lack of unique design on the new currency.
I guess Nigerians were expecting something more flashy and fundamentally different from the current currency notes but they were disappointed, hence the reason they are pouring out their anger and distastefulness of the new currency.
The critics of the Central Bank governor is forgetting the fact that the intent of the CBN governor (which he had on numerous occasions made obvious and had always emphasized) that the purpose of the redesign of the currency is simple; force cash hoarders to pump back the cash they are hoarding back into the banking systems. The plan for the redesign was never to make something unique or flashy, I’m sure if the central bank wanted to make something flashy or more beautiful, they could have engaged some renowned international designers like Louis Vuitton or even Gucci to do the job.
Tekedia Mini-MBA edition 16 (Feb 10 – May 3, 2025) opens registrations; register today for early bird discounts.
Tekedia AI in Business Masterclass opens registrations here.
Join Tekedia Capital Syndicate and invest in Africa’s finest startups here.
For the umpteenth time, the Naira notes were not redesigned for beauty or aesthetics. It was redesigned for economic and security reasons and so far it has achieved exactly that.
Nigerians must learn to see some good in some policies and the implantation of policies of the government. That over 80% of previously printed cash is outside the banking confer and cannot be accounted for is no good, this is the primary reason for the redesign; a means and tactics to assimilate back those cash into the system.
Politicians, civil servants, criminals, money launderers, etc are hoarding so much cash outside the banking sector which ought not to be so, and this is one of the major causes of galloping inflation.
The CBN also wants to use this as an avenue to go back hard on the cashless policy and implement it by drastically reducing the volume of cash in circulation. This is also another good reason for the redesign of the naira notes.
Finally, Nigerians also have to grasp the fact that the Printing of this new currency is also an avenue for making money for the government. Not just in Nigeria, most countries of the world raise revenue by printing currencies and this is called seigniorage.