The new naira redesign strategy of the Central Bank of Nigeria is misunderstood by a significant portion of Nigerians, according to the National Orientation Agency (NOA), which has stated that it learned this from input from its field officers (CBN).
The NOA further stated the necessity of stepping up initiatives to raise awareness of the policy.
The Director-General of NOA, Dr. Garba Abari, spoke to journalists on Monday in Abuja and stated that some Nigerians believe that the time allotted for the exchange of new naira notes is insufficient and that many people are unable to fulfill the deadline.
He claimed that three weeks after the policy was announced, the NOA approached the CBN to form a cooperation to spread the word at the local level.
According to the NOA, the revamp will have a significant impact on Nigerians living in rural areas, particularly those without access to banks or the internet.
He continued, “It was discovered that there were many people who misunderstood or had the false perception of the new naira redesign policy of the Central Bank of Nigeria.
Most people in rural regions claimed they had not yet seen the new redesigned naira notes since commercial banks were not issuing them to the general public.
Others voiced their concerns about the lack of new Naira notes in circulation, which had an impact on their enterprises.
“It was also noticed that some persons started rejecting old naira notes before the deadline, which is against the Central Bank’s instructions.
“Many in the public saw that banks were still giving consumers the outdated Naira notes. Many people expressed concern about shortages of the new naira notes in circulation, which left them unsure of how to convert their old notes to the new ones.
Even though there are only a few days left, banks are still dispensing old Naira notes, according to the NOA DG, some people are not convinced by the timing.
He claimed that until NOA’s sensitization program was launched, some people didn’t take the currency design seriously based on the input received.
Abari commented in reference to the impending 2023 National Population and Housing Census:
The National Population Commission (NPC) and the NOA have been collaborating on how to perform the proposed census successfully in 2023.
According to him, community orientation and mobilization officials from the NOA in the 774 and local government controllers from the NPC collaborated to develop awareness-raising initiatives for the impending census.
According to him, it has been noted that many young Nigerians are interested in learning more about the census because they haven’t had one since they were born.
“People are interested in learning how long the exercise will last. A few Nigerians have preconceived ideas regarding the census concept. They think it is a political activity designed to give some regions of the country a political advantage.
“Many people wanted to know more about the idea of the “digital census,” which is being marketed as the key component of the next exercise.
Many people are interested in learning how the census’ housing component will be handled. Many have questioned why the census and elections are scheduled at the same time.
Most individuals agreed, he said, that there should be more education to dispel misconceptions about the 2023 census exercise.
According to him, the political activities around the general election are obscuring awareness of the census, but the objective is to continually educate Nigerians about the initiative.
According to Abari, the NOA is aware of the importance of continuously interpreting and outlining government programs and policies for the benefit of the target population.
