From Sola Ojo, Kaduna
As scarcity of new N200, N500 and N1,000 notes lingers across the country, traders and shoppers in Kaduna State have cried out that they are losing their livelihood to the situation at a geometric rate. They also said they don’t trust the state government, which directed them to keep doing transactions with the old naira notes.
When The Sun visited some markets, including Bakin Dogo, Gumi and Monday markets in Kaduna, the usual hustle and bubble in these markets were reduced drastically due to the matter of the moment.
Umar Sagir, a tomato seller at the largest food market in Kaduna town, Bakin Dogo, said the situation was terrible as he and his colleagues have been forced to sell their goods at giveaway prices, thereby running at a loss.
“By this time, a basket of tomatoes should be between N8,000 and N10,000. But with this cashless policy and naira scarcity, the patronage is very low and that is why we just have to sell because it is perishable.
“As we are now, we are not also asking farmers to bring tomatoes to the market because things are slow. We are collecting the old naira notes simply because we just have to sell them and see what we can do about it later.
“It is a very pathetic situation. I’m appealing to the government to make the new naira notes available because our business is suffering seriously. Our market has been affected badly”, he lamented.
The story of the assistant secretary of the Tomato Sellers’ Association, Bakin Dogo Market, Kaduna, Adamu Hassan, was similar to his fellow traders. He said: “We cannot keep tomatoes because they will spoil in no time, which is why we are selling anyhow.
“A basket should be around N10,000 but we are selling for as low as N4,000. Kaduna State government asked us to collect the old naira notes but I’m scared. Today will be the last day I will collect it because our government is not straightforward and I’m not ready to collect more.”
A trader who sold soup ingredients, Abubakar Tijani, said the whole thing has affected his sales because many people that bought from him were using the old money.
“Sometimes, I collect old naira notes and other times I don’t. That decision depends on those we buy from. The whole thing has affected our sales. I don’t collect transfers because it is difficult to get them from the ATM,” he said.
Another trader who traded in rice, beans, millet and maize, Umar Ahmed, said he had stopped collecting old naira notes despite the directive by the state government.
“People wanted to buy with old money but we don’t collect those notes anymore. For example, I have about N20,000 old N500 and N1,000 notes with me and just N2,000 of the new notes. Yesterday was the last day I collected the old notes. However, we are collecting transfer but we must see the alert before we can let you go with our products,” he said.
As far as Jamilu Muhammed, who sold onions was concerned, the cashless policy in itself mught not be a bad idea, but its implementation came like emergency haulage when the new notes were yet to circulate across the country.
“I sell onions but I’ve not been making sales because a lot of buyers were asking for my account for transfer. I have an account number though but ‘Yahoo boys’ hacked my account, and withdrew my money.
“I went to the bank to rectify the issue but since that time I lost interest in the account.
“So, I only collect cash, which many of my customers don’t have. People like us are suffering so much. They should have started giving us new notes since the beginning of 2022 so that by December, the old notes would have found their way back to the CBN. It is not easy at all,” he lamented.
A buyer who was sighted roaming and talking to herself inside the market, Mrs. Haruna Husseina, also decried the hardship Nigerians are facing. She said she came to buy foodstuff, including tomatoes and cabbage but she had a few new naira notes and more old naira notes with her, which the sellers rejected.
“I have to hide the few new ones again for eventuality. But they are rejecting the old notes. Because of that, they are selling at giveaway prices because of their nature. What they used to sell for N1,000 is now N300. I just hope and pray this stress is worth it,” Husseina said.
Another distressed buyer, Mrs. Eunice Okonkwo, was stranded after shopping for foodstuff for her family but was unable to get cash to complete her transactions in the market.
She said: “I can’t believe what is happening in Nigeria presently. I have been moving up and down inside the market for the past three hours looking for where to withdraw cash from my account. They said they are not collecting the old naira notes and I don’t have new naira notes.
“The POS agents too are doing their own. The only POS agent that agreed to give me said he cannot give me more than N3,000 when I have bought goods worth N6,000. It is too bad and I’m not happy at all. I came here from school. Now I don’t even have money to transport myself back home. If there is anything the government can do to help us, it should do it.”
Reacting, speaker, Arewa Youth Assembly, Mohammed Salihu Danlami, said Nigerians should try as much as they can to cope with the current situation as it meant well for them though that may not be easy.
He said: “It hasn’t been easy, but I see the success of the policy as the necessary sacrifice Nigerians must make to give a final blow to the menaces of kidnapping for ransom and the emerging evil of vote-buying.
“The artificial scarcity of the new notes is the creation of corrupt elements in commercial banks to frustrate the well-intended policy of President Muhammadu Buhari and the Central Bank of Nigeria governor, Mr. Godwin Emefiele.
“Otherwise, how can Nigerians explain the scenario where a particular bank is having a seamless distribution of the new notes, while other banks are tormenting their customers?
“Indeed, fighting corruption is extremely difficult. When you fight it, it fights back. Nigerians are, therefore, urged to keep faith with the CBN until the policy is fully rolled out. They should equally keep records of banks that punished them so that, at the right time, those commercial banks can equally be punished also.
“Yes, I have had reason to be hurt over the policy, but I see it as a necessary sacrifice I must make for the sake of my country and the future of my children. If there is no pain, there will not be gain.”