Naira Redesign, Swap is having massive negative impact in rural areas

The impact of the poorly implemented Naira Redesign and Currency Swap Policy of the Central Bank of Nigeria is being more acutely felt in the rural areas than the urban areas despite the unusual Videos of people fighting in banking halls and the shocking picture of a man who had to go naked to get access to his money.

Food Security Expert, African Farmer Mogaji disclosed this while speaking on TVC News Breakfast on Monday Morning.

African Farmer Mogaji said in defining Nigerians affected by the policy, it should be noted that there are two categories of people affected.

He said one is the Urban dwellers who are affected and their reactions can be seen all over Social Media with fights, people going naked and protests that have led to the burning of Banks and loss of lives.

He however disclosed that the Other people who are suffering more acutely from the Policy but are not being given the same level of attention are those in the rural areas who are either in underbanked or unbanked communities.

He gave the example of the Food Production belt of Oke Ogun in Oyo State with the specific Example of Sepeteri in Atisbo Local Government Area of Oyo State where their is no single bank in the community with a large concentration of Labourers, Farmers and Farming settlements who work daily and expect to be paid at the end of the day.

He said the settlement is in the South West where many people think is the most developed part of Nigeria.

He added that people usually contribute their ATM’s for someone to go to Shaki from Sepeteri to go and withdraw cash for them to get things done.

African Farmer Mogaji said this has been the case in most villages where he has worked in the south West.

According to him moving to the North Shows that things become very challenging with many unbanked communities littering the whole region.

He added that the Policy has ensured that the Agric Sector is under serious strain and will lead to Food Price Inflation will start going up from this week since most workers in the sector work in the morning and expect to get paid in the evening.

According to Mr Mogaji, most Youth in the South West are involved in menial jobs where they are paid cash daily, it becomes a problem for them to survive, he said the scenes we see in the urban areas pale into insignificance when compared to what obtains in the rural areas.

He said Nigeria focus too much on the elite and the urban areas.

He added that if care is not taken, Nigeria will soon pay a very high price for what is going on across the Country all in the name of Cash Swap and Naira Redesign.

He said the Northern part of Nigeria is still very far in knowing what people are going through.

Going Further He said the Central Bank of Nigeria going from its experience in the Anchor Borrowers Scheme is aware that more than 60 percent of Nigerians are unbanked adding that the Currency Redesign and Swap is nothing short of trying to make magic.

2003 ELECTION:2.7 MILLION ELIGIBLE VOTERS TO PARTICIPATE IN BENUE ELECTION

The Independent National Electoral Commission INEC says it is not prepared for electronic mode of voting even though the law now allows for it, but will only accredit voters electronically during the forthcoming general elections.

Benue Resident Electoral Commissioner Sam Egwu made this known at a stakeholders meeting in Makurdi, He further explained that the bimodal verification and accreditation machine is not a voting machine.

Sam Egwu confirmed that a total of 2.7 million voters in the state are expected to participate in the exercise.

It is just a few days to the general election, critical stakeholders comprising traditional and religious leaders, CSOs, party candidates, and their leaders as well as opinion leaders have converge here in Makurdi, at the instance of the independent national electoral commission.

The Resident electoral commissioner sets the tone for deliberations by revealing statistics of registered voters, and also disclosed the number of polling units without registered voters.

He also talked about what is expected from the political actors and voters during the exercise.

The Benue State Governor Samuel Ortom commended the the engagement between INEC and relevant stakeholders in the political space, and pledged his commitment to ensure a peaceful process.

Again Governor Ortom used the platform to speak on the scarcity of the redesigned naira notes insisting that it is the worst policy of the President Muhammadu Buhari led administration.

According to the electoral umpire 10 polling units in five local government areas of the state are without registered voters, but so far, the Commission says it is ready to conduct a credible, free, fair and transparent election.