Residents of Maiduguri have praised President Muhammadu Buhari’s decision to make old N200 notes legal tender for 60 days in order to mitigate the effects of currency swap policy.
Residents at banks and ATMs in the metropolis who spoke to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) said the president’s announcement in his broadcast on Thursday was a big relief that was expected to alleviate the sufferings caused by the policy.
They charged the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) with acting quickly and ensuring strict compliance by the banks in order to achieve the desired result.
“For three days now no bank or ATM machine has dispensed new notes to customers in Maiduguri.
“People rush to line up as early as 4.00a.m., daily in banks and ATM points in vain due to lack of new notes
“We hope the available N200 notes in CBN will be released without delay to cushion the problem,” Khalifa Ibraheem, a civil servant trying to access his January salary said.
Also, Jummai Buba, a food vendor, lauded the decision to return the old N200 notes and appealed to the authorities, particularly CBN, banks and security agencies to be patriotic in handling the issue.
Buba said that the CBN should release the old notes to banks and monitor the circulation along with security agencies to ensure they give out to customers.
“The banks should be giving out between N5000 to N20,000 to ensure many customers benefit.
“Majority of the public need small amount for basic things like food items, public transport or to eat in restaurants.
“If small businesses like ours who sell food and need small cash for sustenance are accessing small amount with ease there will be no tension as you are seeing now,” Buba said.
A commercial tricycle rider, Bana Shehuri, said that the acute shortage of the new notes has affected their business in the town as many people now prefer trekking just to save the little money they have for food.
“The usual rush and scarcity of tricycles (keke) at close of work and market in the evening is no longer there as many people resorted to trekking due to shortage of new notes.
“The old N200 notes used to be the most common denominator we recieve from commuters, we hope its return for two months would bring relief,” Shehuri said.
Others who spoke also lauded the development and urged for commitment from citizens and relevant agencies for maximum result.
They confirmed that the positive effect of the policy would curb inflation, but said that acute shortage of the redesigned notes was detrimental to growth of small businesses. (NAN)