CBN to stop circulation of Naira note

[Zlantann]

Another white elephant political statement. A country that have high rate of  illiteracy, low access to smartphones and high infrastructural deficit is talking about stopping the circulation of currency note. This means that majority of the Nigerian population would not have access to money. It would take most African countries decades before physical cash can be abolished. Many are not even bothered about owning a phone, they are just concerned about eating at-least two meals per day. Internet access is low and poor and the power sector is epileptic, how would e-naira operate. This statement it targeted at scoring a cheap political point for next years elections.    

[Silberman]

What advantage will it bring if the circulation of naira note is done. I don’t see a reason to stop the circulation of Naira note when the government is against cryptocurrency trading in the country. There is a different motive to this and they’re not been truthful of their through intent to the public. Stopping this circulation of Naira note and urging people to embrace E-Naira will only cause more difficulty to the masses especially the larger population that don’t know the basics of using and transferring funds through a smartphone.

This is just one more example that shows perfectly that governments do not really care at all about their population, this is a move they are doing in order to bring benefits to themselves by trying to lure people to use CBDCs which are even worse than fiat, however I doubt they will succeed, to begin with I doubt that Nigeria has the infrastructure to pull off something like this, second their population probably does not trust the government at all, and finally those that use bitcoin and other altcoins are not going to be interested in using a CBDC that will track everything they do, especially when the government has demonstrated over and over again that they do not like that their citizens are using bitcoin instead of their useless fiat.

[Marykeller]

I just have a simple question for the CBN government about the e-Naira. Will there be a continuity of e-Naira if the present government leaves office by 2023? Cause the Nigerian government is always fond of abandoning ongoing projects when a new government takes over. Continuity is the major problem confronting the Nigerian government. Every new government in Nigeria has its policies to implement and endorse for her citizens. The new government that will take over by 2023 might even scramble this e-Naira they have spent millions in building or equally legalizing crypto at the end.

[The Sceptical Chymist]

Yes they can; El Salvador is a popular example. They recently adopted Bitcoin as a legal tender and still use their previous fiat currency; USD, with both co existing side by side;

I get what you're saying, but I guess what I meant was that a government (let's say the US and its currency the USD) couldn't have a physical version of its currency and a CBDC version existing side-by-side.  If people in the US had the choice of using a government-issued cryptocurrency where all transactions are recorded on a blockchain forever or banknotes and coins, I think--and hope--that they'd choose the latter.  A government would basically have to make the CBDC mandatory if they were going to create one, else I don't think it would catch on.

I just have a simple question for the CBN government about the e-Naira. Will there be a continuity of e-Naira if the present government leaves office by 2023? Cause the Nigerian government is always fond of abandoning ongoing projects when a new government takes over.

That's an interesting monkey wrench potentially being thrown into the works, but other than that comment I don't know enough about Nigeria's government to say much more.  It just sounds like a completely authoritarian move, as the creation of any CBDC would be.

[Gozie51]

So let me get this straight.  Nigeria is introducing a CBDC and ditching physical currency altogether?  Are they the first country to do this?  I don't really follow crypto news or global news for that matter, so I have no idea if anyone has actually done this yet.

Maybe El Salvador going straight to adoption of bitcoin while that of Nigeria is only trying to go digital on her fiat, this is only fanning the embers of total collapse of the economy when the naira goes away physically. Nigeria is not ready for such miracle to happen.

On what bases would the fiat go out of circulation when nothing to facilitate the use of CBDC is in reach or on sight. There are no steady power, it is largely epileptic when talking of power supply, low education of smartphone use etc. Nigeria has so much priorities not e-naira.

[Upgrade00]

I get what you're saying, but I guess what I meant was that a government (let's say the US and its currency the USD) couldn't have a physical version of its currency and a CBDC version existing side-by-side.  If people in the US had the choice of using a government-issued cryptocurrency where all transactions are recorded on a blockchain forever or banknotes and coins, I think--and hope--that they'd choose the latter.  A government would basically have to make the CBDC mandatory if they were going to create one, else I don't think it would catch on.

I understand you better now, but I still think theoretically it could be possible for a blockchain version of USD to exists along side the first version.
For such to work, it may be required for transitions between both to be seamless, maybe a built in function on banking apps where one can switch to a CBDC wallet and transfer directly on the blockchain. It would also be possible to use ATMs as normal on a blockchain version.

This of course is a hypothetical scenario and it would be more difficult in actual practice

[blockman]

It will take a long time before their country fully adopts e-naira or become fully digitalized with their currency. Most of the governments that are looking moving forward to digitalization are now eyeing CBDCs but in fact, there are better methods than adopting with this technology as if it's looking that they've adopted the crypto version of the government.

[Hydrogen]

I would guess nigerians might adopt a barter system in the event of paper money no longer being in circulation. Or perhaps a push for a cashless society could incentivize more nigerians to adopt cryptocurrency?

What is interesting to me is the lack of incentivizing options for anyone to use the CBDC. Nigerians gain nothing by using it. There are no advantages. No carrot. Only a stick. Will there be a public backlash? Or will they simply conform to CBDC demands.

What happens to businesses and jobs who can't afford to deploy CBDC infrastructure. The cash based industry in nigeria must be huge as it is in other countries.

I hope the people of nigeria do well for themselves.

[Charles-Tim]

I would guess nigerians might adopt a barter system in the event of paper money no longer being in circulation. Or perhaps a push for a cashless society could incentivize more nigerians to adopt cryptocurrency?

It would be another means for people to make use of bitcoin, peer-to-peer. Maybe barter can be common among those that are not literate enough to use bitcoin, or those that can not be able to afford to buy phone or people that are unable to subscribe data.

I guess and I think I am absolutely correct that CBN just wanted to make some people panic and use eNaira is the propaganda I only see about this and nothing more. Going cashless is not possible in Nigeria, absolutely not possible.

What is interesting to me is the lack of incentivizing options for anyone to use the CBDC. Nigerians gain nothing by using it. There are no advantages. No carrot. Only a stick. Will there be a public backlash? Or will they simply conform to CBDC demands.

No any functional difference between eNaira and naira that are sent electronically.

What happens to businesses and jobs who can't afford to deploy CBDC infrastructure. The cash based industry in nigeria must be huge as it is in other countries.

Very huge.

[bittraffic]

This is  an attempt to make the people of Nigeria to be poor again. If none of them will hold BTC while the rest of the world does accept BTC, they are once again going to be with eNaira where its value still relies to the fiat system.

Mr Okafor is certainly misinformed because BTC is backed with energy. How come Mr Okafor is not informed about the different estates in US that is adopting BTC?

[NeuroticFish]

Naira notes will be out of circulation soon, says CBN official

I think that this is a "political declaration" i.e. lying/FUD.
I think that they just want to scare off the ones involved in crypto and those using paper money for evading taxes.

In most countries paper money is so vital it's not allowed by constitution (directly or indirectly) get phased out. And you know why? Because if they phase it out they will deny access to money to a vast segment of population (just because you cannot expect everybody have internet and electronic means of payment). I guess that's the same in Nigeria too.
So no, paper money will not go out of circulation that soon. Not so easy.

And about the double standards... as usual, I'll just say that it's a pity that you guys don't know better, it's a pity that you still have expectations from politicians to be fair. Get real!

[so98nn]

This is terrifying for their peeps! Know why? because they do not have enough infra and education to use the digital currency. How they are going to manage the payment if more than half population do not even care about smartphones. They cook starch and hunt chicken till today, they run for clean water and average living standards and their government wants to implement e-Naira and expect their peeps to accept it?

How?

This is completely messed up government authorisation. They literally trying to compete rest of the world without solving the basic problems of their peeps. They should run behind the countries development, make the naira strong against dollar and then somewhere they should "just think" about e-Naira. But now, now is bad.

[Anonylz]

How soon are they planning to phase the Naira note out? i thought the e-Naira was recently introduce by the Nigerian government! i doubt 90% of the Nigerian citizens are already aware of the e-Naira or how it works, if they stop circulation of Naira note and don't educate people more about e-naira especially the less privilege who are the majority can result to problems i.e if they will be true to what they just propose.

[Silberman]

Naira notes will be out of circulation soon, says CBN official

I think that this is a "political declaration" i.e. lying/FUD.
I think that they just want to scare off the ones involved in crypto and those using paper money for evading taxes.

In most countries paper money is so vital it's not allowed by constitution (directly or indirectly) get phased out. And you know why? Because if they phase it out they will deny access to money to a vast segment of population (just because you cannot expect everybody have internet and electronic means of payment). I guess that's the same in Nigeria too.
So no, paper money will not go out of circulation that soon. Not so easy.

And about the double standards... as usual, I'll just say that it's a pity that you guys don't know better, it's a pity that you still have expectations from politicians to be fair. Get real!

You are right, however how many times we have seen politicians make moves that everyone but them knows they are wrong and yet they make those moves anyway? Nigeria and a great deal of countries around the world are not ready for a cashless society, but they are the ones that have the power and they can force people to try to become part of their experiment, and except for those that can see this and plan accordingly the rest of the population will be forced to participate in something they never asked to begin with.

[harapan]

African banks can be so tiring and a big problem, should they think of how to reduce the poverty rate killing her citizens, rather than imposing more hectic stuff's, basic requirements are not provided the least Africa barely have access to a good phone not to talk about a good internet access and electrical power. I bid to the people of Nigeria not too fall for that cheap move, money laundering done are not been tackled yet they claim to impose shit.

[Gozie51]

African banks can be so tiring and a big problem, should they think of how to reduce the poverty rate killing her citizens, rather than imposing more hectic stuff's, basic requirements are not provided the least Africa barely have access to a good phone not to talk about a good internet access and electrical power. I bid to the people of Nigeria not too fall for that cheap move, money laundering done are not been tackled yet they claim to impose shit.

They are just hear nor there and taking the people for the ride. Now the important things are neglected because they want to conduct election and re-elect themselves back in while the schools are shut down because of payment of fees and whatnot. This is a painful situation in Nigeria that has the resources to make the people happy. They are particular about bringing the youth to a standstill. Jobs are not there after you have graduated from high institution, the youth can't contribute to national development yet the slogan is the youths are the leaders of tomorrow.

[justdimin]

African banks can be so tiring and a big problem, should they think of how to reduce the poverty rate killing her citizens, rather than imposing more hectic stuff's, basic requirements are not provided the least Africa barely have access to a good phone not to talk about a good internet access and electrical power. I bid to the people of Nigeria not too fall for that cheap move, money laundering done are not been tackled yet they claim to impose shit.

They are just hear nor there and taking the people for the ride. Now the important things are neglected because they want to conduct election and re-elect themselves back in while the schools are shut down because of payment of fees and whatnot. This is a painful situation in Nigeria that has the resources to make the people happy. They are particular about bringing the youth to a standstill. Jobs are not there after you have graduated from high institution, the youth can't contribute to national development yet the slogan is the youths are the leaders of tomorrow.

Every nation has a lot of trouble with their politicians, that is the nature of politics. I mean if you are interested in politics and want to be a politician, then there is a good chance that you will end up with a problem, no regular person would want to be a politician and succeed if they are normal, only the ones who are corrupt will get high.

So, Nigeria is facing this issue, the people at the top could be corrupted, I do not know but I know politicians and almost all of them are corrupted, and this crypto deal and how they are approaching towards Naira could be because of this, if they are not making anything, why let it happen.

[CryptopreneurBrainboss]

So, Nigeria is facing this issue, the people at the top could be corrupted, I do not know but I know politicians and almost all of them are corrupted, and this crypto deal and how they are approaching towards Naira could be because of this, if they are not making anything, why let it happen.

Politics generally is a game of interest, this is why the Republicans will always want to win ahead of the democrats. The problem in Nigeria is that the mentality of our politicians has been programmed to be corrupt and not just about their political party interest anymore. Even though we're been ruled by one party, provided the country was moving forward then the citizens would had been satisfied but that's not the case as no matter the party that emerge the country keep moving backwards in everything.

Other countries including that of our neighboring states have a system that puts the interest of the country first but we don't have that as even to emerge a winner in any position no matter how small, you have to bribe your way in with thousands of dollars. E-naira came into existence because the government are looking for ways in which to tap into the digital currency market as such they'll be looking for ways to achieve that even though it has to do with damaging the reputation of bitcoin in the process. In regards to reducing the Naira circulation, that's basically impossible and the government knows this, they're just looking for ways to drive up interest in their "centralised so called better bitcoin" and it's already a failure.

[Gozie51]

African banks can be so tiring and a big problem, should they think of how to reduce the poverty rate killing her citizens, rather than imposing more hectic stuff's, basic requirements are not provided the least Africa barely have access to a good phone not to talk about a good internet access and electrical power. I bid to the people of Nigeria not too fall for that cheap move, money laundering done are not been tackled yet they claim to impose shit.

They are just hear nor there and taking the people for the ride. Now the important things are neglected because they want to conduct election and re-elect themselves back in while the schools are shut down because of payment of fees and whatnot. This is a painful situation in Nigeria that has the resources to make the people happy. They are particular about bringing the youth to a standstill. Jobs are not there after you have graduated from high institution, the youth can't contribute to national development yet the slogan is the youths are the leaders of tomorrow.

Every nation has a lot of trouble with their politicians, that is the nature of politics. I mean if you are interested in politics and want to be a politician, then there is a good chance that you will end up with a problem, no regular person would want to be a politician and succeed if they are normal, only the ones who are corrupt will get high.

Well said that being a politician you will end up with some problem or you begin to do things in corrupt mind but the system of some more democratized nations are more sane in nature, there laws are allowed to catch and punish corrupt officials because they build their system on institution and rule of law but most African countries are not following that part. They are mostly operating family kind of government where friends and family members are pardoned for abusing the law.

[The Author]

"Naira notes going out of circulation", am I getting this right or am not just following up on the point that was the intent here. They tend to talk about abuse, when the president ticket costs as much as $167,657, the equivalent of BTC5.7 with current market price in the ruling party and there you have them in few weeks politicians rushing to pick forms and make there declarations. In a nation where the students are left at home to roam the street due to the on going strike of the governing body of universities ASUU for over 4months already and counting. This is hardly the problem of Nigeria at the moment.

How do they expect those in the rural area to be familiar and make use of the e-Naira when they haven't been familiar with the basic devices for this not to think of owning one. It's unheard of what is going on and about happening in Nigeria. The fiat currency is hardly the problem of this country but, the status people whole have stolen away our democracy to operate an autocracy form of government where an out going leader gets to instole a predecessor using the same voting procedure for a shill.

Where a president can act as a minister while occupying the highest office in the country. They award contacts for themselves and live it partly finished with a budget that accommodated surplus. There is no abuse on the currency and the CBN shouldn't complain on what they spend on printing notes. Rather they should beacon on agencies responsible to put corruption in check to carry out there duties judiciously while ensuring that capital intensive projects are duly completed. This would aid the economy more than they looking for a way to reserve more money to be siphoned by some dirty public office holder.

This is well said!
How can a country be claiming to go digital and rule out the existing currency in circulation where the economy is nothing to write home about and their students have been made to remain at home for over 4 months now owning to the fact that the government cannot afford to pay her workers their stipends.
Btw I am a native of that country and believe me when I say this "Nigeria does not have what it takes to go digital"