By Stephen Gbadamosi
December 25, 2023
Nigeria is widely believed to be a rich country. But the citizenry cries of hardship from time to time, from government to government. Only recently, under the government of former President Muhammadu Buhari, a Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) policy of naira redesign threw Nigerians into wanton lack of required cash. Citizens who had money in banks could not withdraw from their accounts. Automate Teller Machines (ATMs) became comatose, while Point of Sale (POS) operators fleeced hapless citizens. Some reports had it that they operated with connivance with some insiders in the banks; while cash was not available for the banking populace, the POS operators had cash to do business at break-neck commissions to the detriment of withdrawers.
Another report had it that a niece of the then-president was the brain behind the naira redesign policy, but Baba Buhari had reportedly denied knowledge of the development.
Then came the current administration of President Bola Tinubu, which has instituted a massive probe into the administration of the CBN. But it is not without its bag of hardship for Nigerians: There is the attendant effect of sudden subsidy removal on petroleum products, coupled with the dwindling fortune of the naira against the dollar, the foreign currency upon which doing business in Nigeria is largely based.
Now, Nigerians are back on the threshold of a cash crunch. Bank customers cry daily over the inability to access their funds from the banks. A bank customer, Adekunle Tijani, told our reporter that out of the N50,000 he requested across the counter from a new generation bank (name withheld), he was offered only N10,000, even though he had over N300,000 in his account.
“After they denied me access to my required money at a branch of the bank in Dugbe, Ibadan, I was roaming about, thinking I could get the remaining sum from the ATMs, but I was wrong; most of the ATMs were not loaded with cash. It is frustrating,” Tijani lamented.
He added that when he opted to try POS operators, the few that had cash to spare were charging between N200 and N300 per N5,000 transaction, a development he said was painful to him.
However, he noted that he had no choice but to pay the N200 charges on N5,000, adding that even at that, he could not get more than N20,000.
An Ibadan-based bank worker, who declined to be named, told our report that the development was not entirely the fault of the commercial banks.
“Go and ask the CBN. We have to follow all their directives. What we had is that the apex bank is trying to mop up the cash circulating in the system, to tame the ever-skyrocketing inflation. We in the banks don’t have control over CBN policies. It is what they ask us to put in the system that we can put,” he said.
A trader at the Bodija market, who simply identified herself as Ajoke, said the development had made the market dull and put unbearable stress on the business.
“You stay in the sun all day and what you can sell during the entire day is not up to what you would do in one hour before this problem started. Even those who want to do a transfer… because we are constrained to give the option of fund transfer so that we can, at least do some business… are always having network problems with the transfer. Somebody just left my shop now after trying to transfer to buy five kilograms of tilapia for about one hour. I lost the opportunity to make that sale,” she explained, speaking in Yoruba.
“Help us to beg the government to find a solution to this problem. After all, we print our money by ourselves in this country. Let them put money in circulation. We are celebrating the festivities in
penury, even when we have the money in banks,” she said.
The situation is not different in other parts of the country. A national newspaper reported the experience of the people of Osun State, particularly Osogbo, the state capital.
“Bank customers are experiencing difficulties withdrawing cash from their banks in Osun State, as the banks are claiming non-availability of physical cash, while in others, there are limits to the amount of cash you can withdraw from the ATM.
“Residents are already entertaining fears of the problem stretching to the festive period as this will affect shopping. The situation is not different with old-generation banks and new-generation ones, as they all complain about the non-availability of raw cash to customers.
“In some banks, it was observed that bank officials rely on daily cash deposits to ration among customers who came to withdraw cash.
“A customer of one of the old generation banks, Mr. Kola Adeyi, who spoke with us in Osogbo, lamented his inability to withdraw cash at his bank. Adeyi, who was preparing for a marriage ceremony for his son, noted that lack of cash was making it difficult for him to make adequate and prompt preparations for the wedding ceremony,” the report held.
The report added that Adeyi complained of rejection of bank transfers at most of the POS for items meant for the ceremony, saying it made things difficult.
“A civil engineer, Alhaji Aromire Irewumi’s experience is worse, as he explained how he always faced the wrath of his laborers whom he ought to pay off daily with cash after a tedious day’s work. The majority of his casual laborers claimed not to have bank accounts. This is affecting his business, as laborers now decline to work for him.
“An economic expert, Tayo Ikumapayi, in Ilesa, told the newspaper that though the cashless policy was a welcome development, for Nigeria to embrace it, certain steps ought to have been perfected, adding that issues of failed delivery of transferred monies and inability to transfer money with ease, due to network problems had to be addressed for effective policy execution.
“Ikumapayi lamented the lack of communication between government and the governed and even banks and their customers, adding that with effective communication, conflicts due to unwarranted disappointment would be minimized,” the report added.
Another banker, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said physical cash was not available in most of the banks in Osun State, because the CBN was not responding promptly and effectively to demand for cash, despite their reserves with the apex bank.
He noted that efforts made by his bank to receive cash had remained a mirage, as their demands were not met, which, according to him, led to rationing of limited cash available at their disposal.
As a trader at the Gbagi market in Ibadan, Mrs. Damilola Alade, puts it, “Nigerians are in for a tough yuletide period unless the Federal Government does something urgent. As it is now, food items are out of reach; and the few people who have the money don’t have cash to purchase. I am not talking about the politicians and the people in government o.”
Stephen Gbadamosi,
Assistant Editor with the Nigerian Tribune,
Former S A Media to Speaker, Ekiti State House of Assembly,
Writer and Media Consultant