Some residents of Kano have applauded the ten days extension granted by the central bank of Nigeria (CBN), for the exchange of the new naira notes.
The earlier the Apex bank had introduced new naira redesign and currency swap policy, with January 31st 2023 as the deadline, for the old N200, N500 and N1000, to be regarded as legal tender.
A house wife Saratu Muhammad described the extension as timely and apt, due to difficulty experienced by residents in getting the new naira notes within the last few days.
She explained that, several traders and tricycle operators rejected the old notes from her, while trying to purchase household items from the market.
Saratu, described the February 10th deadline as inadequate, saying that the June 2023 proposed by the national assembly, would reduce hardship and boost the economy.
According to a civil servant Alhaji Nurudeen Jibril, the deadline earlier announced by CBN led to hardship, as people kept trooping to banks and other financial institutions, to get the redesigned N200, N500, and N1,000 which were unavailable.
He highlighted that, he spent several hours on the queue at a bank in Kano metropolis, but could not succeed in the new notes as just fw people were lucky to get cash.
Nurudeen appealed to government and the central bank of Nigeria (CBN), to put modalities in place to increase availability of the new notes.
Similarly, For Mariya Muhammad, the extension would pave way for penetration of the new notes in the rural areas, saying that, those residing in remote villages were unaware of the naira redesign and cash swap.
She charged the central bank of Nigeria (CBN), to intensify efforts by visiting areas that don’t have access to the internet, to sensitize them on the latest development.
Last year the central bank of Nigeria (CBN), announced its plan to redesign, produce, and circulate new series of Nigerian two hundred, five hundred and one thousand naira notes.
Reporting by Khadijah Aliyu, editing by Daniel Adejo